Plymouth Argyle

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Plymouth Argyle's Northern Ireland goalkeeper Conor Hazard will have to earn his place in the team when he recovers from injury, says boss Tom Cleverley.

Hazard has been out since suffering a knee injury in Northern Ireland's 2-1 friendly loss to Denmark in Copenhagen in June.

Luca Ashby-Hammond has deputised for the 27-year-old all season, keeping two clean sheets in nine appearances.

Hazard could be fit for next week's game against Peterborough United or the EFL Trophy tie with Tottenham Hotspur's under-21 side on 23 September.

"Luca's done great recently," Cleverley said.

"I feel like we were really unlucky to concede two goals [last Saturday against Stockport].

"We've conceded one in the 95th minute and we've conceded a penalty that never should have been a penalty.

"I think Luca's is probably not getting the rewards he deserves recently, but he's looked a lot more assured coming for crosses, his distribution is good, and like every position now, I think I've got a little bit of healthy competition in the squad."

Meanwhile, Scottish defender Jack Mackenzie is "a couple of weeks away" from being able to make his debut - the former Aberdeen player has not featured since pre-season.

Jamie Paterson has suffered a setback in recovering from his calf injury and maybe out for a few more weeks while long-term casualties Xavier Amaechi and Julio Pleguezuelo continue their rehabilitation after surgery.

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All the news as Plymouth Argyle prepare to face Stockport County in League One this weekend.

This update has been created and reviewed by our journalists, using AI to help summarise the most up-to-date Plymouth Argyle news. It is read aloud by an AI voice.

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Bali Mumba says being a first team regular was always his goal, as he prepares to make his 150th appearance for Plymouth Argyle.

The 23-year-old is in his fourth season at Home Park, having joined permanently for a then-club record fee of £1m in 2023 after spending the previous season on loan from Norwich City.

On realising he is about to reach the milestone of 150 appearances, Mumba told BBC Radio Devon: "That's big. As a kid, you want to be a professional footballer and you want to cement your place in the team - that's always been my goal.

"I always thought I want to be known as a first-team player and to know that I've done 149 [appearances] for one club so far and coming up to 150 is a good feeling."

Mumba helped Argyle win League One in his first season at the club, as well as reach the EFL Trophy final, and scored in the Pilgrims' first game back in the Championship in August 2023.

"Getting promoted from League One, that's one of the highlights. It's a good record to have [for] your career and it's big for the club, and for the fans and you saw how much it meant to everyone," he added.

Mumba has found the net nine times during his career, but says his favourite goal was scoring the equaliser as Argyle went on to beat Devon rivals Exeter City 4-2 in October 2022.

"It was my first professional derby game that I've been involved in," he said.

"To experience the atmosphere - because a derby game's a derby game, it doesn't matter what team it is, it's a derby for a reason - and to get that goal there, that's one way to remember my first ever derby game."

Mumba also condemned the recent racist abuse of team-mate Aribim Pepple following his missed penalty in the Vertu Trophy win over Cheltenham Town, saying more needs to be done to eradicate racism in football.

"It's sad that people can say it's normalised in football like it happens quite often," said Mumba.

"Obviously it's not acceptable - it might be a thing of not enough education. [It should be] put on these people to understand what racism is and what it does to people.

"We're all letting [Pepple] know he's not in this alone and we don't stand for such things."

Listen to the full interview with Mumba and more Plymouth Argyle on Sounds.

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Plymouth Argyle boss Tom Cleverley has confirmed that winger Xavier Amaechi will be out until the new year.

The 24-year-old has undergone hamstring surgery after being injured in training late last month.

Cleverley says the former England Under-20 international will be out for at least four months after successful surgery earlier his week.

Amaechi moved to Home Park in the summer from second tier German side FC Magdeburg on a three-year deal.

He has started all five of Argyle's League One games this season and scored his first goal in the 3-2 loss at Lincoln City.

He is the second long-term injury blow Argyle have suffered this season after defender Julio Pleguezuelo was ruled out until January after having knee surgery.

All transfer deadline day's news and views on the Pilgrims in two minutes.

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Will Bristol City make any additional signings? Will Plymouth Argyle add to their ranks?

Find out in our visualised two-hour special show as we follow all of your club's deadline day business. Watch here at 18:00 BST.

Simon Stone
Manchester United reporter

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Manchester United youngster Ethan Ennis has enjoyed an excellent start to the season.

The 20-year-old scored in a pre-season game at Rochdale and was on target in both United's Premier League 2 victories so far this season.

After a spell on loan at Doncaster last season, the plan has been for Ennis to go out again this season.

Along with many youngsters, Ennis is still to decide his future but Plymouth, managed by former United midfielder Tom Cleverley, and Fleetwood are two of the leading candidates to sign the Runcorn-born youngster at this stage.

All today's news and views on the Pilgrims in two minutes.

This update has been created and reviewed by our journalists, using AI to help summarise the most up-to-date Plymouth Argyle news. It's read aloud by an AI voice.

Listen on BBC Sounds