Forward Thinking

Centre-forward Jimmy dislocated and broke his ankle in training on the eve of Argyle’s 3-0 home defeat against Grimsby, and joined fellow central striker Ryan Brunt on the long-term casualty list. 

Arnold Garita, who had been missing for two months with a thigh injury, replaced Spencer in the starting 11, but he is still bringing himself back to fitness. 

Rather than bemoan the situation, though, Derek expressed his satisfaction with the other attacking members of his squad, citing Jordan Slew, David Goodwillie, Louis Rooney, Craig Tanner and Graham Carey all as viable, fit options, on top of Garita. 

“We’ve still got very good options in the forward positions,” said Adams. 

“It’s not easy. Every manager wants a full strength squad to pick from. Unfortunately, we’ve got a number of long-term casualties. 

“We can’t do anything about a cruciate ligament, a broken ankle or someone having a stomach operation. It’s just what happens. 

“The players that are injured will feel sorry for themselves, as they are missing a lot of game time. I, as a manager, will feel sorry for myself, because we’ve built a squad at the start of the season, and we want everybody available. 

“I think we’ve probably had a couple of serious injuries, but not too many big problems. They seem to come in spells where they come at the same time. 

“It’s not helpful, but we’ve got other players in the squad who are more than capable of playing that role. 

“[Arnie] has trained, so he was fine to play the game. It’s obviously difficult, being out for that period of time, but he was ready to go. There wasn’t any issues there. 

“It’s a risk putting anybody on the pitch. It doesn’t matter how many games you’ve played or how long you’ve been out for. We look to play the best available team tomorrow night.

“[Rooney] got a chance on Saturday. He came on for 15 minutes, and good for him to get back in and around the squad, now he’s had some game time. 

“We want him to continue his progression and push towards being around the squad, then to push himself further into the first team.”