PLYMOUTH Argyle’s disappointing start to the new Sky Bet League One season continued on Saturday when they crashed to a third successive defeat away to Lincoln City.

Tom Bayliss opened the scoring early on before a second-half brace from James Collins put the Imps in a commanding position.

Quickfire goals from Owen Oseni and Xavier Amaechi brought the Pilgrims back into the contest and set up a grandstand finish.

However, Argyle - who had summer signing Brendan Wiredu sent off for two yellow cards - were unable to find that decisive third goal.

“I think, first of all, it's got to be an acceptance of where we are,” said Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley. “Okay, all the relegated teams are expected to bounce straight back up, but it’s absolutely not [easy]. I think if you look back historically over the last three or four years, it's very difficult to bounce straight back up to the Championship from League One. We have to accept where we're at.

“We’ll work really hard to change that mentality, as well as get all the basics together, and it should mean that we start picking up points fairly quickly.”

He added: “Today was a huge disappointment. It’s a game that I felt was there to be won. We’re in a moment, whether it’s confidence or scarring from what's happened previously, that we don't want to take that game away from the opponent. We're waiting for them to land the first blow, and then, today came the second and third blow, where I thought we were really poor at the start of the second half.

“Then we start playing when there seems to be nothing to lose. That's a mentality I need to address. Sometimes, when you get to a certain level of football, if you let the opponent land the first blow, it’ll just be too far out of your reach. Today, that was the case; we only got going when we felt freedom, and now there's nothing to lose. That's a mentality that we all need to address.”

Having come from 2-0 down against Queens Park Rangers in the Carabao Cup in midweek to win 3-2, hopes were high Argyle could maintain their winning formula in their latest league fixture.

However, a worrying injury list continues to plague Cleverley who, for a second time in three games, was himself shown a yellow card.

“I’m a guy who wears my heart on my sleeve, I’m passionate and when you feel hard done by I had a little march up the touchline,” added Cleverley. “It’s something I need to get better at, is controlling that emotion, but I think that’s why we are all in football right?”

Argyle will be hopeful that they can add to their squad before the transfer window ends at the month, but Cleverley acknowledged getting new faces into Home Park has been difficult.

“My focus will be on improving our performance levels,” said Cleverley. “I know that (player recruitment) is part of it so I will have an input in that department of the football club, yes.

“All I can take sole ownership of is the performances on the pitch which have not been good enough to get us the points that we need. That will be my main focus and I will have input where I can in the recruitment.”