Tom Cleverley did not dress it up. After Plymouth Argyle were beaten at Leicester City, the Argyle head coach told BBC Radio Devon it was "a sore one" and, pointedly, "a missed opportunity" for his side in League One.

The phrase carries weight. Argyle had already demonstrated this season that they are capable of competing at the sharper end of the third tier, and a trip to one of the division's most expensively assembled squads represented exactly the kind of fixture a club with ambitions has to at least threaten to take something from. On this occasion, they did not.

A difficult venue, but no excuses taken

Leicester's King Power Stadium is, by some distance, the largest ground in League One. The infrastructure, the wage bill, the squad depth: all of it belongs to a club that has arrived in the third tier with resources that make most of their rivals look part-time by comparison. And yet the division has a way of levelling things out over a Tuesday night in September, which is precisely why Cleverley appears to feel his team should have made more of the occasion.

His language after the match was telling. "Missed opportunity" is not the vocabulary of a manager making excuses about a difficult away day. It is the language of a man who watched his players create enough to have taken something, only to leave empty-handed. The detail of what was created and what was wasted was not available from the broadcast summary, but the tone was unambiguous.

Where this leaves Argyle

Plymouth's start to the season has been a mixed picture. Cleverley had spoken publicly about it being a "testing" opening run of fixtures, and the early results have backed that assessment up. A win over Bradford City offered early encouragement; a draw with Wycombe Wanderers suggested resilience; this defeat at Leicester now sits in the loss column and will sting the more for the manner in which Cleverley described it.

Argyle have also had to manage the absence of Mickel Boateng, who faces an extended spell on the sidelines. Losing a key attacking option and then failing to take points in a winnable away fixture compounds the frustration. Cleverley, to his credit, has not hidden from either problem.

For a squad that was considered settled before the transfer deadline, the early weeks have been something of a reality check. Losing at Fratton Park or St James' Park would not raise many eyebrows; losing in a way that the head coach himself calls a missed opportunity at any ground ought to prompt some honest reflection in training.

Leicester's perspective

From the other side of the result, Leicester will take the win, though it is worth noting that their own League One campaign had a difficult beginning. A home victory keeps them moving in the right direction, and their superior resources should, over the course of a 46-game season, tell. Whether Russell Martin's position feels any more secure after a home win against a determined Argyle side is a separate question.

For Plymouth, the immediate task is straightforward: respond. Cleverley has shown himself to be a manager who expects that of his players, and the mood coming out of the BBC Radio Devon clip suggests he will not allow "a sore one" to fester for long. The League One calendar offers no time for extended self-pity. Another fixture will arrive quickly, and Argyle will need to be ready for it.

Frequently asked

Did Plymouth Argyle lose to Leicester City?
Yes, according to head coach Tom Cleverley, Argyle were beaten at Leicester City in a League One fixture, with Cleverley describing the result as "a sore one" and a missed opportunity for his side.
What did Tom Cleverley say after the Leicester defeat?
Cleverley told BBC Radio Devon it was "a sore one" and bemoaned what he called "a missed opportunity", suggesting Plymouth had enough in the game to have taken something from it.
Where do Plymouth Argyle stand in League One after the Leicester loss?
Plymouth's early League One season has been mixed, with a win over Bradford City and a draw with Wycombe Wanderers among their results, but the defeat at Leicester adds to a testing opening run of fixtures.