Tom Cleverley has a decision to make.
One of the high points for Argyle in the month of September, a month in which Argyle won five of their six games, was the form of Bradley Ibrahim. He scored three times during the month, and caught the eye with all-action displays in the heart of the Argyle midfield.
However, a booking picked up at Burton Albion last Saturday – his fifth of the season – means Ibrahim will sit out Saturday’s home game against Wigan Athletic through suspension. Head Coach Cleverley is mulling his options about how to fill Bradley’s spot.
“I’d be surprised if Bradley wasn't in the running for one of the players of the month for the league,” said Cleverley.
“An absolutely outstanding performer, consistency is what he has brought to his game. We saw glimpses against Barnsley, against Leyton Orient when he came on that day. We saw glimpses in pre-season of what Bradley can do and the potential he has. But if you do that one in four, or one in five, it's not very good to a coach, in the middle of the park, where you need consistency.
“Now he's doing that four out of five, and then you've got a real player on your hands. It's been a fantastic month for him, and we'll miss him this weekend.
“There's a place up for grabs in there, if I want to play the same way on Saturday, which I felt worked well [at Burton]. Is it Pato? Is it Tegan Finn, if we want to be more attacking? Or is it Caleb Roberts? It's up for grabs. I’m yet to make a decision on that one.”
Wigan come to Home Park a place above Argyle on goal difference only. Managed by former Argyle promotion-winning boss Ryan Lowe, the Latics have 12 points from ten games, just like Argyle, but have lost their last two league games, to Bolton Wanderers and Cardiff City respectively, with a defeat in the Carabao Cup against Wycombe Wanderers in between.
“I think if you go off our last six games then you would be a lot more excited by this season than our league position maybe tells,” said Tom, himself a former Wigan player. “That's why I'm not obsessed with that right now.
“Me and the guys will be judged after game 46; after game 10, and all the transition we were going through over the summer, I'm a little less obsessed with where we are. What I am excited about is our recent form and the amount of goals we're scoring.
“It's two teams that will have bigger ambitions than where they are in the league table now. I'd expect a reaction [from Wigan].
“[Ryan is] a real leader. He is a proud guy, Ryan. He'll be wanting a reaction from his team, so we have to be ready for that.
“It will be a competitive game of football for sure. There's some really good attacking players; highly likely it'll be two teams with maybe four strikers on the pitch.
“It’s going to be an interesting game, especially with Ryan and his connections to the club coming back.
“We should definitely respect what Ryan did for this football club - and we do. I think that you see that when you walk down the tunnel, and his face is there, along with some other key figures for the football club.
“I respect Wigan as a football club, and what they did for my journey in this industry.
“I've had a thoroughly enjoyable year on loan there, we managed to stay up on the last day of the season. All those memories - throwing Dave Whelan up in the air on the pitch at Stoke - will stay with me.
“Respect for sure, for their manager, and them as a club.”
