Rooney 'tried his best' says Argyle successor Muslic

Plymouth Argyle head coach Miron Muslic says Wayne Rooney should not be blamed for the club's pending relegation from the Championship.

The former England captain left the Pilgrims on 31 December with them bottom of the second tier.

Rooney guided Argyle to just four league wins and 13 defeats in 23 Championship matches in charge.

Since taking over in January, Muslic has led Plymouth to eight win and eight losses in 21 matches.

But barring a freak run of results it will not be enough for Argyle to stay up - they must beat Leeds United on the final day of the season, hope the sides above them lose and manage to turn around a 13-goal deficit if they are to have a third consecutive season in the Championship.

"I will never point the finger at others," Muslic said. "I've been here for four months, I've never mentioned Wayne Rooney once publicly, never.

"I think he tried his best 100%. He tried his best and I tried my best too, and unfortunately it wasn't enough."

Muslic says he "needs answers" over the future direction of the club - which is without a technical director and key recruitment staff.

But he says he is confident that Argyle can bounce back as they return to League One - which they won two years ago with a club-record 101 points.

"We should never be afraid of falling down," added Muslic. "We should never be afraid also of being knocked out - we are down and we are actually knocked out

"The only way is to get up and try again, and I believe in this, and maybe that's also the reason why I'm sitting here as head coach."