Argyle's Ibrahim suffers 'significant ankle injury'

Bradley Ibrahim has scored three goals in 18 appearances for Plymouth Argyle since joining in the summer

Plymouth Argyle midfielder Bradley Ibrahim will be out "for months" after suffering a "significant ankle injury".

The 21-year-old summer signing from Hertha Berlin has been one of the bright spots in a difficult season for the Pilgrims.

He has played 18 times for the club, scoring six goals after joining for an undisclosed fee in June.

"It was a freak incident where his studs have got caught in the ground and he received a contact," head coach Tom Cleverley told BBC Radio Devon.

"He's on his crutches and things like that, so he's not much you can do physically, but mentally he can still be a good guy around the environment.

"He's a big personality and he's influential, especially among the younger half of the squad, so impact people the right way around the football club.

"I always think for young players, watch role models, take this time to watch the best players in England in Bradley's position - your Declan Rice's, your Bellingham's and learn from them.

"I know more than anyone about being injured, so I've had some conversations about that and yeah, he has to come back stronger because he's an important player for the club."

It is the latest injury blow to the struggling Pilgrims this season.

Fellow summer signings Xavier Amaechi and Caleb Watts have been out since August and September respectively, while defender Jack MacKenzie has yet to make his debut after being injures in pre-season.

Amaechi and defender Julio Pleguezuelo - who has been out all season - have begun training again and could be back in action by the end of the month.

The run of injuries - which has also seen the likes of Joe Edwards and Ayman Benarous out - is a concern for Cleverley.

"It's a freak run we've had," he added. "My training methods haven't changed to last pre-season where I had a complete clean bill of health.

"All I have considered is doing less contact drills, less opposed drills in training because it's got that serious the amount of injuries we're getting.

"I'm not pointing fingers at anyone because there's a lot of bad luck, Bradley's never had an injury in his career and then gets a real significant one that was a freak incident.

"It's the way it's going. We're not going to feel sorry about ourselves about it, we're going to roll our sleeves up and realise the situation we're in and do everything we can to win on Saturday."