Wayne Rooney insists he made 'right decision' against Leeds United amid Portsmouth comparison

Plymouth manager Wayne Rooney insists Tuesday’s 1-0 win over relegation rivals Portsmouth vindicates his decision to rest several key players at Leeds United last weekend.

Leeds ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Elland Road last Saturday, with three first-half goals from Dan James, Joel Piroe and Brenden Aaronson ending the contest before half-time. Daniel Farke’s side barely broke out of second-gear all game with Plymouth failing to register a single shot - only the second time that has happened in the Championship since 2013, according to Opta.

The Pilgrims were given little chance on the day and those odds reduced even further once the teams came out, with Rooney surprising many by deciding to bench the likes of Morgan Whittaker, Mustapha Bundu and Andre Gray. But in the manager’s eyes, that freshness allowed them to maintain their intensity against a fading Portsmouth outfit, with Michael Obafemi scoring the decisive midweek goal on 82 minutes.

"I'm delighted firstly with the three points,” Rooney told Plymouth Live of his side’s win. “After the recent run of results the most important thing was we win the game, so I wasn't really looking for a performance. We have seen some very good performances this season with the ball but tonight was more about getting the basics right.

"Portsmouth are an aggressive team. They go man for man and try to make it difficult for you. There was little things throughout the game which make a big difference. They only made the one change [from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Hull City]. The decision on my starting line-up against Leeds only pays off if you win the next game, so I think it was the right decision I made."

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Fortunes reversed in midweek

That decision paid off for Rooney in the end and a lack of freshness looked to have played a part in Leeds’ 1-0 defeat at Millwall on Wednesday, despite being able to ease off over the weekend. Farke’s squad looked somewhat jaded going forward and were never able to click, falling to Japhet Tanganga’s first-half effort.

Farke insisted he wasn’t overly concerned with the performance in South East London, with Leeds controlling possession and having their fair share of first-half chances to score. A lack of composure in the final third was met with stern resistance from Millwall, who defended excellently but were rarely troubled.

“I'm not annoyed at all with the performance,” Farke said after full-time. “I thought we were excellent in the first half. We were all over them. The cutting edge in the first half was missing, so many dangerous crosses and corners. The quality out of one of these situations to bring the ball over the line was not there. It felt like it was coming but you have to play further on without mistakes.

“We had a chance to play the finishing pass tidy, we didn't do this, played it two or three yards too long. It was too central our shots. There was a situation with a great shooting position and we opted for another pass instead. Awareness, the quickness in the heads, we were lacking a bit to be on the first post. We had one cut back to the edge, but Junior anticipated it a bit too late. In the final third we were not quick enough in the head in order to score a goal.”