Plymouth Argyle boss Wayne Rooney says he is pleased with how his side is improving despite a 1-0 loss at Championship leaders West Bromwich Albion.
The Pilgrims’ defeat came a week after beating previous table-toppers Sunderland 3-2 at Home Park.
“I’m disappointed with the result, but there’s a lot of positives for us,” Rooney told BBC Radio Devon.
“I think the pleasing thing is we’re showing we can compete with the best teams in the league.
“I think we’re more than capable of causing teams problems, we’re getting more and more comfortable with the ball, which is pleasing for us, and we look like a good solid group.”
Having been thrashed 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday in Rooney’s first game as head coach, the former England captain has seen his Argyle side gradually improve.
They conceded with seven minutes to go to lose 1-0 at home to Stoke City at the end of August before getting a stoppage-time winner to beat Sunderland last week.
Josh Maja’s goal after an hour was the difference at The Hawthorns but Argyle had more possession and matched their opponents’ number of shots on goal.
“We’re a good team,” added Rooney, whose side are one point off the relegation places.
“I think we’ve built a really good squad, not just the starting XI, but players on the bench as well.
“I’ve got real options to come and play in different games, [options] which I feel are right for that game.
“Certainly since the first game of the season, which of course was a disaster for us, we’ve competed in every game, we’ve shown we’re a good team and if we play like we played today we will pick up a lot of wins.”