Michael Cooper: Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper returns to full training

Michael Cooper has kept three clean sheets in the nine Championship games he has played this season

Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Michael Cooper has returned to full training after recovering from a knee injury.

The 24-year-old has been out for more than two months after injuring the medial cruciate ligament in his left knee in training in December.

Cooper has featured just nine times this season after recovering from a ligament injury in his other knee which saw him sidelined for nine months.

Cooper has yet to feature for new Argyle manager Ian Foster.

"The difficulty that Michael's got in this moment with the big volume of games is it's difficult to get the sessions he probably needs and requires," Foster said.

The highly-rated academy graduate has played more than 150 games for the Pilgrims and agreed a new contract to keep him at Home Park until the summer of 2025 last March.

Summer signing Conor Hazard has played most of Argyle's games in goal this season in Cooper's absence, and Foster says with the volume of games the club currently faces it is difficult to arrange a suitable friendly to give Cooper some much-needed match experience.

"We need to get 10 other players to play in the game as well and that's the problem," Foster explained.

"But that's why he's been with the goalkeeping department now for the last week or so, to get the volume of training right up, to get his fitness up, to get him sharp.

"He's probably got more in that than he would in a game, because again you've got to be careful who the opposition is because, respectfully, if you get a team that aren't going to dominate us then he's not going to be busy, he's going to be stood around for 90 minutes.

"It has been a consideration, it's not something we've completely ruled out, but it's quite difficult at the moment."