Plymouth Argyle 'capable of going on to win the league' says boss Steven Schumacher

Steven Schumacher and his players celebrated in front of more than 1,200 travelling fans at Exeter City

Plymouth Argyle boss Steven Schumacher feels his side are capable of winning League One after their Devon derby victory at Exeter City.

The 1-0 win put the Pilgrims top of League One as they battle with Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town for the two automatic promotion places.

It came after Argyle had lost two of their past three games, including a 4-0 defeat in the Papa Johns Trophy final.

"It felt important because it's a derby game," Schumacher told BBC Sport.

"It felt important because people have said a few things about us over the past few weeks, about not dealing with pressure.

"Well, there's no bigger pressure than this game today and the lads dealt with it, so to me that looked like a performance of a team who are capable of going on to win the league.

"We didn't play brilliantly, didn't play great football, but we found a way to win the game and were professional.

"It says a lot that if we can keep that standard up in the next five games then we've got a chance."

Matt Butcher's second-half goal, which deflected in off former Argyle defender Will Aimson, gave Argyle victory in a tense derby at St James Park.

It ensured they did the double over their big local rivals, having won 4-2 at Home Park at the end of October.

Schumacher says it is important that people look at the bigger picture rather than focus on the recent losses.

"The game that sticks out in everyone's mind is the Bolton game because it's in front of 80,000 people and it's a cup final, so that got amplified," he said.

"But that's six wins out of the past eight league games, so it's not a problem, everyone just needs to stay calm.

"I spoke about how I wasn't calm in my press conference on Saturday, but look at the bigger picture and we're top of the league - what more can we ask for?"