The Game is Afoot

REUBEN Reid was forced to sit out Argyle’s 2-0 defeat to Bury through, but John Sheridan is hoping it is the only game his striker has to miss.

Immediately after Reuben netted the third goal of a historic hat-trick against Exeter City, the Pilgrims' top goalscorer was forced off the field with a foot injury, leaving his availability for the Greens’ next game against the Shakers in doubt.

Reid failed a fitness test before the fixture and could only watch on as goals from Daniel Nardiello and Danny Rose ended the Pilgrims’ run of four consecutive wins, but Sheridan is still hopeful that his striker will be fit to make the trip to Stevenage in midweek.

“He tried it again this morning - he had an injection and felt really good on Thursday,” said John, after the Bury game.

“We didn’t feel as though there was going to be a problem with him, but he was a bit tender. Paul [Atkinson] the physio felt that it would be better if he didn’t play today.

“We’ll assess him, and he’ll have the rest of the weekend to recover before hopefully travelling on Monday. We’ll see how he is.

Despite his team struggling to rekindle their form of recent weeks without Reuben in their ranks, Sheridan does not believe that Reuben’s absence played a part in the home defeat.

“Obviously Reuben is our leading goal-scorer,” said John, “and I think it gives the opposition a little lift when they don’t see him on the team sheet.

“I am not thinking that we have lost the game because Reuben hasn’t played. The lads gave me a lot of effort.

“We have been playing well but we just didn’t really get going today. I thought we were a bit slow and lethargic for some reason. It’s the first time I have changed my team in four or five weeks but I don’t want to look at that.”