THE reputation of Ian Holloway and the recommendation of a former team-mate persuaded Lee Martin that his immediate future lies at Home Park.

Manchester United midfielder Martin, 20, joined the Pilgrims on a three-month loan deal on Friday and made his Pilgrims' debut as a second-half substitute in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Blackpool.

Holloway has been on the tail of Martin, who played with Argyle number nine Sylvan Ebanks-Blake at Old Trafford, for a long time, and firmed up an approach to United manager Sir Alex Ferguson last week.

"I spoke to Sir Alex and we decided the best thing was to go out on loan and get some games before Christmas," said Martin.

"He's said there are a few things that I need to work on, which I agree with, and he said this was the best place to come to. He likes Ian as a manager and he says this is a place where I am going to learn things.

"I knew Ian Holloway was interested in me last season and has been watching me for the last couple of years. Then Ian came in for me this week and, to be honest, I made my decision early in the week and it was just a matter of speaking to our manager and getting the move down here.

"[Ian] spoke to me a few times and told me what his ambitions were and where he wants the club to be, and I share the same ambition: I wanted to come to a manger who wants to play football and who enjoys his football."

Martin played reserve-team football with Sylv at Manchester United, and the pair went on loan together to United's Belgium feeder club FC Antwerp.

That was one of three loan spells Martin has had, although the other two, at Rangers and with former Argyle manager Tony Pulis at Stoke City last season, were not as successful.

"I know Sylv well," said Lee. "We know what our strengths are; we know what each other's weaknesses are.

"I was on loan with him over in Belgium and we got a good relationship. Sylv phoned me up and said 'I believe you want to come here and I believe you can play football down here.'

"I want to hook up with him and hopefully get the partnership we had at reserve level.

"I've had three loans prior to this one and only one's really worked out for me - the other two were dampened by injury and, under Pulis, I didn't really play much - but I spoke to Ian and he wants to play me.

"That's what I want to do, I want to play football, and hopefully I can do it.

"I played nine games of the 13 at Antwerp. I got man-of-the-match awards and it was a great spell. I got injured at Rangers; and, in the second part of the season, I went to Stoke and couldn't get a game.

"I'm here to prove myself. My confidence has been dented from the back end of last season. I'm here to try to get my confidence back and get a few games under my belt."

Martin was born in Taunton although he does not really consider himself a Westcountryman - "I was born there and I moved to London, the Croydon area, when I was about three or four?I can't remember much, but I spent most of my holidays down in Cornwall" - but knows a lot about Argyle.

"There's ability here," he said. "It's quite a tight group of players and certainly a team I'm looking forward to playing for.

"I played for Stoke last year down there and I liked the fans, I liked the whole set-up. I like the way they play - they try and play football.

"I wanted to go to a club where there's enjoyment, and the gaffer is all about enjoyment.

"The manager at Old Trafford tends to sit at back and let his assistants and other coaches do the talking, but Ian seems like quite and up-front bloke and he's used to the football banter.

"Compared to the gaffer, he is a totally different person."

Martin's introduction to the Green Army came after around an hour of the goal-less draw in Lancashire, when he played wide right, although he is equally happy on either wing.

He said: "I prefer playing left and cutting in, that's the way I've been playing for the last two or three years, but, as long as I'm playing, that's all that matters."

Although his first Argyle experience was not a winning one, he took some satisfaction from the result.

"I thought Blackpool played well," he said. "They made it difficult for us. They are a good footballing side and they try to play football. It's always hard to play against a team that wants to get it down and play quickly.

"I thought we did well. We battled well. A few of the lads were tired after seven games in 21 days. It's not always easy with that amount of games."