Wayne Rooney sends six-word message to Kevin Nancekivell after Plymouth Argyle win

Wayne Rooney delivered a six-word message of support to his former colleague Kevin Nancekivell after Plymouth Argyle’s shock FA Cup victory over Brentford.

Rooney posted: “So happy for this man. Legend” followed by a green heart emoji on his Instagram story over a clip of Nancekivell and the players celebrating wildly in front of Argyle supporters.

Although Rooney left his post as Pilgrims boss by mutual agreement less than two weeks ago, he is clearly still in support of his former club.

Plymouth Argyle pull off almighty FA Cup shock at Brentford

Only a fool would have predicted Plymouth to overcome Brentford in the FA Cup third round.

Plymouth entered the tie bottom of the Championship and without a win in their last 11 matches, while the Bees have only lost two home games in the league all season and demolished Southampton 5-0 in their most recent outing.

The tie looked destined to go to extra time with the sides locked at 0-0 with less than ten minutes remaining until Morgan Whittaker scored the winning goal on 82 minutes.

Caretaker manager Nancekivell was clearly ecstatic after the final whistle and played up the Pilgrims’ chances of staying up this season.

He said: “This is what Plymouth Argyle is all about, it’s built on spirit and resilience. We’ve shown that in the last couple of games and the lads and the football club should take that going forward for the rest of the season.

“But if we put in performances like that, there’s no reason why we can’t accomplish the challenge of staying in the league.”

Miron Muslic will be looking to build on Brentford performance

Plymouth appointed Miron Muslic as their new manager days ago, and he was present as the Pilgrims claimed an unlikely victory at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Although Brentford were not at their best, Argyle can take a wealth of positives from their performance in West London, which is bound to give them confidence.

The Pilgrims have been woeful on the road this season and have failed to pick up a single win in the Championship, but this result shows they are capable of changing that.

Defensively, Plymouth had to be at their very best to walk away with a win and while the Bees struggled in front of goal, the Pilgrims were more than capable, totalling 39 clearances, 20 tackles and 53 duels won.

Argyle face a tricky run of Championship games, with QPR, Burnley, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion all to come, but will be confident of pulling off more upsets in the weeks to come.

While the Pilgrims will be on a high following their unlikely victory in West London, they will need to prove they can replicate their fine result where it matters: in the Championship.

What this result shows is that Plymouth can compete with stronger sides on their day and, considering they are only three points adrift from safety, survival is achievable for Muslic.