The inevitable discussion point ahead of Argyle’s home game with Doncaster Rovers this Saturday is the health and fitness of the Greens’ squad.
In a week in which Argyle lost at Luton Town in the Vertu Trophy and at Rotherham United in Sky Bet League One, it seemed like Pilgrims were dropping by the wayside on an hourly basis.
Head Coach Tom Cleverley’s response has been a short break between coming off the field in South Yorkshire and reporting back for training duties at Harper’s Park. This has hopefully freshened bodies and minds, as Argyle face their first home game since an epic 5-2 win over Cardiff City.
“I think four away games in two weeks is quite unusual,” Cleverley told Argyle TV. We looked like that caught up with us in the last two. I'm really pleased that we've had a full week now to prepare for a home game that we're all really excited about.
“We’ve created a really good environment between the players and the fans, and the atmosphere was electric the last time we were here. We have to continue that now.
“We certainly can't make any excuses about being fresh enough this week. We've had a week to prepare, get a bit of rest into the players and we're ready to make sure that we hit the ground running after a small little break.
“The players had a couple of days off after the Rotherham game. I'm not one of those who gets emotional after a result and would say: ‘we're going to be in every day now.’
“I think it's important when the players need a rest, and if you have an opportunity to give them that, you give them that. That's what we had earlier in the week. We've been in the last couple of days, worked hard towards the weekend, and got some good work into the players, some good information. We'll hopefully see that transferred from the training ground to the pitch on Saturday.
“[Julio Pleguezuelo] will be out for a few weeks; the approach we'll take with Pleggy will be: if we can use him towards the back end of the season, great. But Pleggy needs a pre-season. He needs a bit of a reset on his whole body. I've been where he is now; it's frustrating and it's mentally tough. We'll give him the time and the support that he needs to make sure he's in the condition to have a full pre-season next year. And Tegan [Finn]'s not good news. Tegan will be out for the rest of the season with a hamstring problem.
“The positive news I can bring is Herbie Kane will be back with us, Mathias Ross will be back with us, and Owen Dale will be back with us. All have trained the whole week and come through successfully.”
Doncaster are 17th in the division, and were beaten 5-1 by Argyle when the sides met in December, but Grant McCann’s team are in reasonable form in 2026, winning half of their ten league games, although they also come into the game on the back of two defeats, having lost 4-0 at home to Cardiff in League One, then exited the Vertu Trophy with a defeat to Stockport County.
“They're on a decent run, especially in the league,” said Cleverley, speaking of Doncaster. “Three wins in their last five league games, which sees them get themselves into, not a comfortable position, but a strong position, when their aim will certainly be to stay in the division after getting promoted last year.
“[They are a] very well coached team, try to play football through the lines, got two very exciting wide players and it'll be a strong challenge for us. [They’ve] got a lot of good technical players, and you can see that coming out in their play recently.”
