Plymouth faced a Brentford side who started without Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, who have scored 23 league goals between them.

But the starting line-up included Danish international Mikkel Damsgaard, who scored seven assists this season, as well as other regular players such as Sepp van den Berg, Kevin Schade and Mads Roerslev.

However, Plymouth were level with them, barely giving an inch to the hosts after overcoming early blushes when they allowed Fabio Carvalho to have a couple of strikers in front of their goal.

“The plan for this week was to be organised, be in our form, come to a Premier League team and make it as difficult for them as possible and have a bit of quality on the ball,” interim coach Nancekivell said then the game.

And his players executed that plan perfectly as they remained solid even after Thomas introduced Frank Mbeumo, Wissa and Keane Lewis-Potter from the bench – before Whittaker created the moment of magic.

The 24-year-old, who scored 20 goals last season, came inside from the right and – with the Brentford defense applying little pressure – fired a low shot into the bottom corner to the delight of the away game.

“If we continue to perform like this, there is no reason why we shouldn’t manage to stay in the league,” said Nancekivell, who will be part of Muslic’s backcourt team.

“I’m proud of everyone and happy for the fans. It’s a big day for us. The FA Cup brings that romance and we made a bit of history with the win.”