Hard Knock Life

...and Derek Adams will be making sure he has a competitive squad to choose from after their fortnight’s break. 

Both Graham Carey and Josh Simpson were forced off at half-time with groin and knee problems, respectively, as the sides were level. They could not be separated at full time, either, but a goal from Joss Labadie looked set to give the Daggers the win until a stunning Ryan Brunt strike in stoppage time. 

“We obviously had a lot of changes to make, and personnel changes,” said Derek. “We had to make two changes at half-time – the physio wanted me to take both players off at half time, so we had to change that as well. 

“It’s not easy with the threadbare squad that we’ve got at this moment in time. It’s been a bit stop-start for the last couple of weeks with the injury situation, which is not helping us. It’s not a good situation to be in. 

“For the players, it’s been very difficult for them. If you look at the team we had out at the end, we’ve got a good number of 20 year-olds playing in the starting eleven, which is not easy for them. 

“The ones that came off the bench are very young as well, so it’s been a hard afternoon, and it’s been a learning curve for them.”

With no other commitments apart from their Sky Bet League 2 campaign, the Pilgrims have no fixture until December 12, giving injured players a chance to recuperate. Whilst Derek and his coaching staff will also spend some time away from Home Park over next weekend, they will not exactly be putting their feet up in front of the sofa and switching off from all things Argyle related.

“We’ve got a two-week break,” said Adams, “and I hope to have a fully fit squad, other than [Hiram] Boateng, going into the Cambridge game.

“They’ll be off Sunday and Monday, then they’ll train and we’ll have time to work with them and get the injured [players] back.

“I’ll go back up [to Scotland] next weekend and spend a weekend there. I’ll go and watch a number of Scottish games and see if they are any players up there. The rest of my staff will be scouting in England.”