Results 'a huge priority' for Argyle boss Cleverley

Tom Cleverley admitted he did not "have nine lives" after his side's loss at Mansfield Town

Plymouth Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley said his recent boardroom backing does not take away from the immediacy of turning around the club's poor form.

Argyle chief executive Paul Berne issued a statement on Wednesday supporting under fire Cleverley after a third successive league defeat.

Argyle - who were relegated from the Championship last season - are third-from-bottom in League One and face a tricky-looking FA Cup trip to Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.

Cleverley took over at Home Park in June after the sudden departure of Miron Muslic and has gone on to lead the Pilgrims to four wins and nine defeats in their 14 league games this season.

They have been poor in their three most recent losses - including a 2-0 defeat at Devon rivals Exeter City last week.

"It was a long-term vision when we committed to each other in the summer. I don't think anything's changed there," Cleverley told BBC Radio Devon.

"I just make sure that people know that that isn't an excuse or complacency for me to feel I have the licence to lose football matches.

"There's been a tough set of circumstances - when you go from one league to another that's a big transition, and then you start recruiting towards that, and then a head coach leaves spontaneously and a new head coach comes in with half the recruitment done, that's another big transition.

"It was never going to be easy. It was never going to be short, and we have to work our way through this to get on an upwards trajectory and start looking forward.

"We've made a long-term commitment to each other, but that doesn't mean that short-term results are not a huge priority of mine."

Cleverley has not been helped by a number of injuries to key players this season.

Exciting attackers Caleb Watts and Xavier Amaechi has been out since September with hamstring injuries and are unlikely to be fit until January

Meanwhile defenders Julio Pleguezuelo and Jack MacKenzie have yet to play this season after suffering knee and shin injuries respectively while captain Joe Edwards is likely to miss the next few weeks with a calf problem.

"Circumstances and a bit of bad luck here and there with injuries and has meant that it's been a very, very challenging period," Cleverley added.

"I think externally the result is all that matters and will always be the case in football.

"But internally I think people see the work that you do and the quality of that and that there is longevity in that, and that this really young group we've got will benefit from that and that we are the best staff to move that forward.

"But let me not get into a false sense of security - short-term results are priority number one.

"I need to address that, so we're working 99% of our work towards that and thinking 1% about long-term vision right now.

"We saw that half the recruitment was done before I came in and you saw the direction the club was going down, that it was going to be a younger age profile of squad, there's going to be a lot of developing in that.

"I've been at a club previously where you suffer a little bit for that, we're going through that now compounded with other things, but there are certainly things I can control to make it better."