ONE point gained or two points dropped?

That was no doubt the question going through the mind of Plymouth Argyle head coach Miron Muslic following his side’s 1-1 draw with Cardiff City in the Sky Bet Championship at Home Park on Saturday.

The Pilgrims moved up another rung in the league ladder, leapfrogging Derby County in the process, but they remain in the relegation zone, still three points adrift of both Cardiff and Hull City - and with a much inferior goal difference to their name.

Having trailed to an early first half goal from striker Yousef Salech, the game sprung into life after the break when the visitors had defender Dimitrios Goutas sent off for hauling down substitute Bali Mumba on the edge of the area.

Although skipper Adam Randell flashed the resultant free-kick just wide of the goal, Argyle drew level not long after when substitute Muhamed Tijani claimed his first goal in English football, finishing off a clever nod down from Mustapha Bundu.

Argyle pressed hard for a winner for the remainder of the match, but their efforts were in vain and the Bluebirds were able to hold on for a share of the spoils.

“I have mixed emotions, mixed feelings, because we threw away the first 45 minutes,” said Muslic afterwards. “In our situation we can’t throw away four-and-a-half seconds and we threw away 45 minutes. We were sloppy in everything. The first goal was just an example of our first half. We could clear the ball two or three times, but not clean enough to do this.

“What I liked was the reaction in the second half. Bali gave us, immediately, the impact we needed. He gave us the energy and the boost we needed to get back into the game. His first action was a shot, the second [led to] a red card; it’s a clear foul - last man, red card. He kept on being an attacking threat.

“We kept on attacking, we kept on pushing, then we scored the goal to reward ourselves. It was a beautiful goal, but we did not continue, this is why it ended 1-1.

“After the goal we should have stuck to the game plan, but we made a lot of wrong decisions afterwards. It was too hectic. In the first 25/30 minutes of the second half we started very high, very intense, very dangerous, but we left our script and played in favour of Cardiff. We can do way better.

“This is also the learning we have to take. We have 12 games to go; we are going to have a lot of games that are hectic for the last 15/20 minutes. We have to stick to our plan, stick to our structure, stick to our organisation. If we do that, we will still collect points. But it feels like two points dropped this afternoon.”

Argyle will take a break from Championship action this Saturday when they face Manchester City in the fifth round of the Emirates FA Cup at the Etihad Stadium.

Muslic’s side will face the reigning Premier League holders, fresh on the back of a 2-0 loss at home to Liverpool, the side Argyle ironically defeated 1-0 in the previous round.

Ryan Hardie, who netted the winner in that game, is set to miss out on the trip as he recovers from a back problem.