The Pilgrims lost 2-1 in their quarter-final against Luton at Kenilworth Road
22:15, 24 Feb 2026Updated 10:16, 25 Feb 2026
Disappointed Argyle left-back Jack MacKenzie and his team-mates after the 2-1 Vertu Trophy quarter-final defeat by Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on 24 February 2026 (Photo: Alan Stanford/PPAUK)
Tom Cleverley thought Plymouth Argyle produced a ‘really lacklustre performance’ as they were beaten 2-1 by Luton Town in the Vertu Trophy quarter-final at Kenilworth Road.
The Pilgrims had drawn level in the 77th minute with a goal from 17-year-old substitute Tegan Finn, but Luton clinched victory with a late penalty from Jordan Clark.
Argyle top scorer Lorent Tolaj had dropped out of the Argyle team in the afternoon because of a reaction to his recent leg injury.
Read More; Argyle Vertu Trophy run ended by Luton in quarter-finals
Read More: Luton vs Argyle Recap: Pilgrims beaten after late penalty
Then, in the pre-match warm-up, midfielder Brendan Wiredu experienced an abdominal and pelvic problem and his place in the starting line-up was taken over by Bradley Ibrahim.
So, all in all, it was not a night to remember for Cleverley, who said: “A really lacklustre performance. I think we have got enough trust between us all now that we can be really honest.
“The reasons why is going to be the thing to take out of tonight. What this group of players has done has always learned from when we have fallen short how to put that better.
“So we need to learn from this evening. I thought we were second best in every area, we didn’t deserve to progress. There will be an honest inquest and the players will do that internally.
“They take enough responsibility to do that. There will be conversations amongst themselves. The disappointing thing was we were outdone at the basics tonight, which has been our underpinning source of success recently.”
Cleverley added: “I didn’t think the distance of our team was compact enough. We had been very brave with our distances and tonight we looked a little bit stretched out and maybe that was because of energy levels.
“They technically were clean, I thought Luton played well, their rotations caused us some problems but when we got close to people we didn’t come out with the ball enough.
“We didn’t land on anywhere as near as many seconds, and we didn’t win anywhere near as many duels as we have in the last three months.
“That’s disappointing because they are controllables, the basics we have delivered to a world class level and that’s what every player can do no matter how quick you are, how strong you are, how much technique you have got.
“The basics of communication, of running of duelling, we can be as good as anyone at and tonight we weren’t.”
In addition to Tolaj and Wiredu both dropping out of the team, Argyle were without Owen Dale after he took ‘a nasty whack’ in training on Monday and did not travel with the squad to Bedfordshire.
Cleverley said: “If you ask me if I had my time again, if I knew Tolaj was going to pull out on the afternoon of the game, then you would bring Owen Oseni, of course you would.
“But when we are travelling so far across the country, to take squads of 20-21 players is going to be very unnecessary.
“Tolaj pulling out at half-past two, Wiredu pulling out at quarter-past-six is not ideal when you are preparing for a big game and we have shown time and time again this year we just can’t sustain the amount of injuries that we have suffered.”
Tolaj made his comeback from a dead leg as a substitute in the 3-1 win away to Leyton Orient last Tuesday and then started against League One leaders Cardiff City at Home Park on Saturday, scoring two goals in a 5-2 victory.
Cleverley said: “Tolaj feels a little bit of a sensation in the same leg so we are going to do a little bit of investigation on that, with our fingers crossed.”
He added: “Wiredu had an abdominal, pelvic problem in the warm-up. Again another one we will investigate when the dust has settled.”
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