In Shape

...and offered him an early chance to experiment.

Adams side enjoyed their first 90 minutes of playing time after nine days of hard work in pre-season training, and were very happy to get back on the pitch. The manager used all five of his new signings to start his first ever game in charge of an Argyle side along with six more familiar faces.

"It gave me time to assess the ones from last season and the new players I knew about," Derek said, "so it was good to see them both coming together. I thought they acquitted themselves well."

Argyle lined up in a variation of a 4-4-2 diamond formation, with Carl McHugh asked to play as the deepest-lying midfielder. The Irishman found his niche last season as the most central of three defenders, but looked comfortable in front of a back four. 

"From his younger days he had played central midfield," said Derek, of Carl. "It's an area he can possibly play for us this season depending on the formation we play so it was good to see him playing in that area of the pitch, I thought he did really well. It's an area of the pitch that I wouldn't be adverse to playing him again.

"At times we will play in a 4-3-3, at times we will play in a  4-4-2, at times we will play in a 4-2-3-1, at times we'll play in a lop-sided diamond which we did the another night. We will play in different formations depending on the game we are going to play in, depending on the situation of another team. They might have weaknesses, they might have strengths; but we will have the players to change formation as the season goes on."