PLYMOUTH Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley described his side’s 5-2 demolition of Sky Bet League One leaders Cardiff City at Home Park as the best performance under his tenure.

In his 100th game as a head coach, Cleverley saw the Pilgrims make it three wins in a week, scoring 12 goals across victories over Blackpool (4-0), Leyton Orient (3-1) and now Cardiff, who had gone 12 games unbeaten.

Strikers Bim Pepple and Lorent Tolaj both netted twice, before a header from Mathias Ross sealed the success against the Bluebirds, who replied through a brace from Omari Kellyman.

Cleverley praised his team’s mentality: “Outstanding performance. We went toe-to-toe with the league’s best and came out on top in every department. After Cardiff pulled one back, the mentality we showed after that, coming up against the top side who would be confident and mentally resilient, to then be the team to kick on and really put the game to bed, it was a complete performance. I’m so proud of the players that the hard work they are putting in is being rewarded.”

Ahead of kick-off, the Argyle boss made the call to tinker with his tactics, recalling Tolaj alongside in-form Pepple in a 4-4-2 formation, which certainly paid dividends.

“It was a brave performance. The players executed it to a T and deserve a lot of credit,” Cleverley added.

Argyle have now won nine of their last 15 league games, losing only three, putting themselves firmly in contention for a promotion play-off push with 13 fixtures remaining.

Reflecting on the win, Cleverley added: “The system change and getting our most productive players on the pitch has been a big part of our success. Today summed up the team effort – two players scored twice, but man-of-the-match went to the captain [Joe Edwards]. That’s where we were as a team.”

Meanwhile, Cleverley has been handed a further boost that on-loan midfielder Herbie Kane could be back from a hamstring injury by early March.