Not Straightforward
THE Green Army may have to be patient for their first sighting of new signing Nadir Ciftci in action.
The Turkish forward, who has been given the iconic No.9 shirt for the duration of his season-long loan from Celtic, is being considered for a starting debut against Scunthorpe United at Home Park on Saturday.
However, Pilgrims manager Derek Adams has not made up his mind whether or not to name Nadir in his starting 11 for the Sky Bet League One contest.
“He’s not completely match-fit yet,” said Derek, “but we’ve assessed him over the last couple of days and we’ll do that again before Saturday.”
Former Scunthorpe midfielder Jamie Ness, who left Lincolnshire for Plymouth in the summer, is in line to add to his 13 seconds of league action after his later than late appearance as a substitute against Charlton a fortnight ago.
Since that most fleeting of cameos following his recovery from a calf injury, Jamie has clocked up valuable minutes in the Checkatrade Trophy and Carlsberg South West Peninsula League.
Derek said: “He’s a very good player, one that will do really well this season. He’s had good game-time over the last week.”
With one loan signing in through the door, Derek is still striving to at least double his temporary signings before the transfer window closes next week.
He said: “As we get closer to the deadline day, it becomes an issue that we want to try and resolve. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, but we’ll continue to work at it.
“I want to take in the right type of player and, in this transfer window, we have done that.”
There could be some movement the other way next week, too, with first-year professionals Jordan Bentley, Alex Fletcher and Callum Rose being considered for loan moves to help develop their fledgling career.
“We’ve put a circular out to the clubs in the National League and National League South,” said Derek. “We’re just waiting to see which ones come back in for them.
“Then we’ll sit down over the next ten days or so and see the best possible place for them to go.”