Julian Speroni: Back to his calm and assured self, claiming everything he could without any hesitation and at vital moments too. 7

Nathaniel Clyne: Caught out a couple of time early on but got the better of his man as the game progressed. Great run in lead up to first goal. 7

Jose Fonte: Shaky in the early stages but seemed to have a good relationship with Davis and they could make a good partnership. 7

Claude Davis: Superb debut showing pace, power and aggression. If his head didn’t get to the ball then his foot did and he kept Plymouth at bay in the second half. Man of the match. 8

Clint Hill: Solid as ever but made little effort to get forward and gave away a lot of free kicks. 6

Shaun Derry: His best performance for a while, even popping up in the Argyle box with a couple of shots. 6

Neil Danns: What he lacks in creativity he makes up for in combativeness and energy. Good goal but at fault for Plymouth’s consolation. 6

John Oster: Playing out wide he took his goal really well but his set pieces were poor and he hardly made a tackle. 6

Sean Scannell: Did well in lead up to second goal and showed a willingness to run and track back in the left wing position. 6

Paul Ifill: Superb ball for Oster’s goal but looked a little slow playing up front with Lee. 6

Alan Lee: One chance, one goal. Won plenty of headers but doesn’t really strike the fear of death into defenders. 6

Subs:

Shefki Kuqi (Lee, 70): Missed a sitter in injury time. 5

Lee Hills (Scannell, 70): Played left wing but did nothing special. 5

Danny Butterfield (Oster, 80): Shored up the defence. 5