Adam Randell admitted it was hard to put into words his disappointment with the result and his own performance as bottom-of-the-table Plymouth Argyle collapsed to a 5-0 defeat by Burnley at Home Park last night.

Even allowing for the undoubted quality of the promotion-chasing Clarets, the Pilgrims were a million miles away from where they needed to be in the first half to stand any chance of making the game competitive as they conceded all five goals in a 36-minute period before the break.

For proud Plymothian Randell, who wore the captain's armband for Argyle, it was an experience unlike any other playing for his hometown club as the Green Army inside Home Park turned on the team with cries of 'This is embarrassing' during the one-sided contest.

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Randell was very candid with his comments when he faced the media after the match. "It's hard to put into words how myself and the rest of the team feel right now," he said.

"Incredibly disappointed, gutted with the way we went out there in the first half. Second half we showed a bit more fight and actually stayed in the game for that 45 minutes, but the first 45 was just nowhere near it.

"Myself, personally, I'm really disappointed with the way I performed. It's an individual game as much as it's a team game. I always want to do what I can to help the team and today, along with others, I think I fell short of that."

Argyle have now gone 14 Championship games without a win, since they beat Portsmouth 1-0 at Home Park on November 5 in what has been one of only four league victories all campaign.

Randell said: "It's a tough situation. We obviously have to stick together as a team. It's easy to let your heads drop after the first goal and think that's it and the confidence might go

"We need to make sure that as a team, especially from now on, we don't allow that to happen. That's a job for myself, that's a job for the other players, to make sure personally that doesn't happen and then look around you and help out team-mates as well."

Asked how painful it was for him to hear the angry reaction of the Green Army, Randell replied: "I hate it, absolutely hate it. It's something that I never really pictured happening while playing for the club. It's something you never want to happen.

"I have not really been in this position before in my career where it has felt that way so it's learning for me, and it's tough. There is no shying away from that but it's something we need to understand and we need to get better with and appreciate, because it's not going to get any easier if we keep going the way we are going."

The heavy defeat by Burnley came in just Miron Muslic's third game as Argyle head coach. "He's obviously not happy, that goes without saying really," said Randell.

"He wants a change in mentality I think, which I can agree with partly. In the first half we weren't showing enough fit, we weren't showing enough quality, and whether that's individual mistakes or a mentality thing whatever it is, it needs to change and change fast."

Argyle face an almost immediate return to action because they will play fourth-placed Sunderland, who are five points off the top of the table, at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

"We have said it before, it's good to have a game coming so quickly so we can bounce back hopefully and show a reaction," declared Randell. "That's what's needed. It's the only thing we can do, is try and go again and try and prove it was just a lapse in concentration and that it's not the end of things."

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