A MYSTERY knee problem has been cited as a major factor in Paul Gallagher's indifferent recent form.
Manager Paul Sturrock also feels his deployment on the left-wing has hindered the man on loan at Home Park from Blackburn Rovers.
Centre-forward is Gallagher's natural position and Luggy admitted he is now considering the option of the naturally left-sided Jim Paterson for tomorrow's trip to Charlton Athletic.
"Jim comes back into my thoughts for the weekend because of the Gallagher scenario," said Luggy. "Gall is a striker. In his mind he is a striker.
"He has done a very good job out there. At Preston he worked his tail off but to get the best out of him for us, we have to think about putting him in a position where he can be influential.
"He has got his head down at the moment and the things he was doing naturally, he is now thinking about.
"Paul has been carrying this knee for a long time now. We've had it scanned and they've [Blackburn] had it scanned, but every time he kicks the ball in a certain way he gets a pain down his knee.
"It is not ideal. No player likes to play with pain and he has played with pain for the last two games. I have got to make a decision on whether we keep playing him or whether the rest would do him the world of good.
"He has trained but even yesterday there were a couple of passes he made that you could see him wincing on.
"The boy has lost a bit of confidence because of it and he is not playing to the standards he was achieving earlier in the season. He was the key player to us and probably the reason why we went on a fantastic run. He is now fighting his mind."
Physio Paul Maxwell admitted the knee problem remains something of a mystery after scans at both Argyle and Blackburn.
The only way forward for Maxi and his medical team is to continually monitor the situation.
"He has trained ok today without much pain," said Maxi. "We can only go on how we clinically assess him and nothing has really shown up.
"Both parties have had him scanned but if the player feels there is something wrong, we have to keep investigating."
