Fitness Boost for Robins Test
Recovering duo Brendan Galloway and Panutche Camara are set to play a part in Saturday’s friendly against Bristol City, at Home Park.
Manager Steven Schumacher confirmed that his plan is to give both men some minutes on the field against The Robins, to aid their development from setbacks they received last season.
Left-sided defender Galloway suffered a knee injury in a game against Wycombe Wanderers in late November and has not played since. Midfielder Camara hurt his hamstring against Sunderland in April, causing him to miss out on the last two games of Argyle’s season. Both have been escalating their involvement in the Pilgrims’ pre-season training, without playing a part in any of the three friendly matches played so far.
“Brendan Galloway is progressing really nicely,” said Schumacher. “He’s coming on with his training. He’s nowhere near 100%, but the plan is to get him minutes on Saturday, and the same with Panutche Camara.
“He’s a little bit ahead of Brendan, physically, because he is a natural athlete and hasn’t been out as long. We might be able to get him a few more minutes than Brendan.
“It’s a real bonus. It gives us a boost that these two players are back in the squad. It makes the squad look stronger, as do the two new players we’ve brought in this week. Hopefully we can make a couple more additions; not for Saturday, but for next week onwards, and we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
Saturday’s game against Bristol City is the second in a week against Sky Bet Championship opposition. Argyle came through a tough assignment against Swansea City on Tuesday, not only getting a valuable workout, but getting a confidence-boosting 1-1 draw.
The two games against higher-division opposition follow matches against Plymouth Parkway and Gibraltarian club Europa Point. After Bristol City, Argyle will complete their build-up with games against Torquay United and Yeovil Town of the National League, then a game against Southern League outfit Truro City.
Schumacher explained the rationale behind the eclectic group of opposition in the schedule, and the benefits Argyle should reap from facing a variety of opponents.
“We try to structure pre-season games where you have a variation of styles to play against,” he said. “The first two, we had all of the ball, which allows us to get a feel of it, and get our legs going again. The next two, that we’re having now, are real defensive tests; you have to concentrate because you are playing against better players, or at least players who are used to playing in a better division.
“We have to really be on it, defensively, and have a plan when we’ve got the ball. The next two are going to be more similar to what we’ll find in our league games. Torquay and Yeovil are in the National League at the moment, which is two divisions below, but it will still be competitive, and for large parts of the game it will be to and fro, we’ll have spells and they’ll have spells. That’s what a League One game of football looks like.
“It’s important you do get a mixed variety of games, because when you come into the season you have to be ready for whatever tests are thrown at you. If you’d just had one type of game for the whole of pre-season, then it’s not going to do you any good.”
