Hand in Glove

ANOTHER week, another goalkeeper to be the subject of questions put to Derek Adams.

Hull City and England Under-20s goalie Will Mannion made his debut for the club during Tuesday’s Checkatrade Trophy defeat against Yeovil, having signed that morning on an emergency loan deal. Having not had time to get to know his teammates properly, Derek was pleased with how Will conducted himself during the game.

“It wasn’t easy for him because he only arrived on Monday night and didn’t see the players until he arrived here Tuesday afternoon,” said Derek, “That was the situation on Tuesday night, so when he gets to train with the players over the next couple of days then he’ll get to know their names.

“He has good presence. He didn’t have a lot to do the other night, but when he was called upon he completed it well.”

Derek explained that Remi Matthews, a previous emergency loanee, is now back at Norwich due to an injury he picked up against Portsmouth, with the prognosis suggesting that he now faces several weeks on the sidelines.

“Remi picked up an injury against Portsmouth,” Derek said. “He had a scan on his ankle and the scan came back that he has ligament damage, so he’s going to be out for a minimum 2-3 weeks. We’re disappointed for him, because he’d come in and done well for us.”

The gaffer also clarified the situation around Michael Cooper. Having recently dislocated his finger, Cooper was included in the matchday squad against Portsmouth in Saturday, only to be missing from action again against Yeovil. Adams clarified that this decision was in fact due to other fixtures that the club had that day, and the need to have a squad available for each game.

“We had three games on Saturday,” said Derek. “We had an Under-18 game, we had a Peninsula game and we had a game against Portsmouth. I took the risk to help the football club by putting Michael on the bench for us and giving them Max Childs. That’s why I put Michael on the bench; he wasn’t 100% fit and he isn’t. That’s why Max Childs was back on the bench on Tuesday night.”

Moving outfield, Tuesday saw first team returns for Oscar Threlkeld and Ryan Taylor, with the latter grabbing Argyle’s goal in the game, bringing many positives for Derek.

“[Ryan’s] been out since the first game of the season,” said Derek. “He scored a good goal the other night and it was good for him to get 70 minutes. I gave a lot of the players who had either been injured or suspended or hadn’t played for a number of weeks game time and it was a very competitive match for us.

“[Oscar’s] come through it fine. He’s still lacking match fitness but he’ll get that over a couple of weeks.”

“They’re obviously tired, but there’s no reaction at this stage.“