"We keep having these zany moments and it's unlike any team I have been involved with in the past," said Paul Sturrock.
"There were a lot of good performances tonight, yet we end up 3-1 losers. Saturday's game with Ipswich is now absolutely huge for us."
Bristol City boss Gary Johnson was happy. "It was a great night for us.
"I didn't think we did enough in the first half to deserve to be in front, but the lads kept going and it became a bit of a chess match with us changing our playing pattern to try to outwit them.
"Jamie McCombe was so upset with himself about losing Mackie for Plymouth's goal that he attacked the cross moments later with extra vigour.
"We are keeping ourselves on the coat-tails of the leaders and I still believe we have the squad to maintain a challenge."
Sturrock is the manager with all the problems as his side look to get away from the Championship relegation zone.
"I keep feeling sorry for my players because they put in a lot of effort, but we can't keep on losing concentration when it comes to picking up opponents at crosses," Sturrock said.
"Some of our attacking play was bright and I was pleased with a lot of individual performances. It was 100 miles better than the display at Blackpool last Saturday."