Argyle will once again be without injured captain Joe Edwards this weekend as they travel to Huddersfield Town, but another two Joes, offering different qualities, have been added to the group.
Nineteen-year-old forward Joe Hatch travels, having been recalled from his loan spell at Taunton Town, and he is joined by Joe Ralls, who signed for the Greens as a free agent in midweek.
Ralls, 32, had been with Cardiff for well over a decade, playing hundreds of games for the Bluebirds, including a stint in the Premier League, and as the club’s captain.
He is out of match practise but, speaking on Thursday, Head Coach Tom Cleverley indicated that Ralls would head to West Yorkshire with the squad, and would be assessed as to his possible involvement.
“It’s a fantastic signing for us,” Cleverley told Argyle TV. “Joe brings a number of things that we are probably missing right now. That's consistency, experience in the middle of the park, freshness, a fantastic career, keeps the ball, which I think we can improve at in that area of the pitch.
“He brings a mental freshness of someone who's not gone through a few bad experiences recently. That's important, as well as being left-footed. The balance of the team was a little bit out last Saturday, with Tolly (Lorent Tolaj) as our only left-footed outfield player.
“That helps when it comes to set pieces and a bit of balance in the team.
“With his leadership qualities, with how many young players we've got in that area of pitch. I think if they're not looking at how Joe Ralls trains, how he plays. When we talk about basics of ‘why does someone play 500 games?’ then our young lads should be looking at that.
“He's fit enough to train with the guys for the next two days. We'll assess what that looks like. He will be travelling with the squad to Huddersfield.
“We'll make a decision on that after Friday's training session, but he looks in really good nick. We saw him train yesterday with the performance guys and it certainly won't be weeks that we have to wait for Joe to get up to speed.
“We recalled Joe [Hatch] because I feel like he can be effective for us, now. I think he's been excellent in all his cup appearances this season; not fazed by anything.
"He's quite a physical player. He's got good running power. He's strong, and he's created chances for himself in his appearances. if I could explain Hatchy in one word, it'd be: ‘effective’. Right now, that's what we need to be.
“We can talk about all the structures and details, but we're not effective enough going forward, and we're not effective enough defending our goal.”
Said lack of effectiveness has seen Argyle endure a miserable run, losing their lost four games, and failing to score in the last three on the road, all 2-0 defeats.
Hosts Huddersfield are not faring much better. Despite sitting ninth in the table, Lee Grant’s men have also had a bad run of form of late. They did beat Mansfield Town in the Vertu Trophy in the week, but prior to that had lost their last five, one in the Vertu, one in the Emirates FA Cup, and three in the league, to Stockport County, Wycombe Wanderers and Bolton Wanderers, the latter of whom were also Huddersfield’s FA Cup conquerors.
In a bid to emerge the victors in a battle of two teams bereft of form, Cleverley took his squad north on Thursday, with a Friday training session factored into a day before a game which is designed to minimise the travel so close to a fixture.
Cleverley said: “I think going off our Lincoln and Bolton travels, where we were seven-and-a-half hours, and Huddersfield being a little bit further than that, I don't want to do eight hours the day before a game.
“It makes sense for us to go up today (Thursday). We'll train at a facility tomorrow. It makes complete sense. Just the fact that the length of travel, I don't want the players to be doing that the day before a game.
“I will be judged on results. So, if I could do the best preparation of all time and lose the game, then it's fine. I could do what I feel is going against everything I believe in, the worst preparation, and win the game. And then it's been successful.
“I wouldn't want to start doing things in the week I didn't believe in, but we are being a little bit creative. We're tapping into the psychology of the players.
“We're trying to go above and beyond to get us out of this, and we've got a group of staff that are willing to dedicate their lives to do that.
“I expect intensity [from Huddersfield]. I think when you're low on confidence and form, the things that you really have to double down on are the ones that you can control. So, that is running, that is duelling, that is communicating. I expect them to be as intense as we need to be as well.
“I saw that in their Bolton league game. For half an hour, they were excellent against one of the best teams in the league.
“I feel for Lee [Grant] a little bit; he's the only person who could probably compete with my injury list. It's a difficult moment for both of our clubs. We know the way that we get out of that, and that's a good performance and a win.”
