Plymouth Argyle

Image source, Rex Features

Plymouth Argyle's struggles are hurting the players as much as the supporters, says defender Brendan Galloway.

Sunday's 2-0 loss at Oxford made it nine games without a win for the Devon side, with just three draws in that run leaving them bottom of the Championship table.

"Every single time we lose we're down but we have a game in two days so we need to recover and train and prepare as best as we can," Galloway told BBC Radio Devon.

"I hate losing football matches especially for this club because of the amount of support we have and it hurts us as much as it hurts the fans."

The pressure has increased on manager Wayne Rooney during Plymouth's poor run, with a trip to managerless Stoke on Saturday to follow the Bristol City game.

"We need to keep on fighting - as long as we're at this football club we'll try to overcome the hurdles we're facing at the moment and we need to keep going," added Galloway.

Brent Pilnick
BBC Sport, South West

Image source, Rex Features

What do Plymouth need?

In short - goals. Only Hull and Cardiff have scored fewer goals than Argyle this season and someone who can reliably put the ball in the net would seem like a must if Wayne Rooney's side are to stay up.

What sort of business are they likely to do?

Argyle's attacking problems stem mainly from injuries. Muhamed Tijani has barely featured this season while Ibrahim Cissoko and Morgan Whittaker are both out until January with hip and foot injuries, respectively.

The Pilgrims' offence has suffered more blows in the past two games - Ryan Hardie gashed his knee while Burnley loanee Michael Obafemi injured his groin against Middlesbrough just before Christmas, while Boxing Day saw Mustapha Bundu hurt his hamstring.

It leaves Andre Gray as the only fit senior forward - and he is at the club on a short-term deal which ends in January. While the 33-year-old has scored a couple of key goals, he has not been the answer to Argyle's attacking problems.

Whether Rooney perseveres with him or opts to let him go and spend his wages elsewhere is possibly one of his biggest decisions.

The club may also look to strengthen at full-back, particularly left-back. Brendan Galloway and Lewis Gibson - more noted as central defenders - have played on the left in recent weeks as Nathaniel Ogbeta and Matthew Sorinola have struggled to make an impact.

How successful have they been in recent January windows?

January has never been a big month for Argyle - Adam Forshaw joined last January and has featured regularly since.

But you have to go back three or four years for the last January where any real impact signings were made.

Argyle brought Ryan Hardie for the first time in January 2020 and signed him permanently a year later along with Niall Ennis - both forwards went on to have key impacts in Argyle's promotion to the Championship.

Are there likely to be any notable departures?

A year ago all the talk was whether highly-rated Whittaker would leave, with reported bids from Rangers and Lazio. Now the forward is injured and has found the net just three times in 16 games - whether anyone will pay the rumoured £10m price tag touted earlier this year looks unlikely.

Rooney has said players will leave this month, but he must have suitable replacements lined up.

He must make a decision over Gray and a number of other players failing to make the squad - could Hardie, who has scored just once in 18 league appearances this season, be surplus to requirements?

Meanwhile, with goalkeeper Conor Hazard returning to full fitness you would expect Marko Marosi to leave when his short-term deal ends.

How key is the window?

Make or break might be a bit strong as Argyle have had their injury problems. But undoubtedly they must get more attacking firepower through the doors at Home Park if they are to give themselves the best chance of staying up for a second successive season.

If only Rooney was 10 years younger...

Oxford United welcome Plymouth Argyle in a bottom of the table battle at The Kassam Stadium on Sunday.

The U's crept out of the bottom three on Boxing Day but there was no such festive cheer for the Pilgrims, with Wayne Rooney's team succumbing to another heavy defeat.

Sunday's hosts are 20th in the Championship heading into the year-ending round of fixtures, while the visitors remain last in the league.

• Oxford United have lost their last four league games against Plymouth Argyle since a 3-1 win back in April 2021.

• Plymouth Argyle and Oxford United last faced in the second tier of English football in April 1992 – the Pilgrims, then managed by Peter Shilton, won 3-1.

• Oxford United have won their final league game of the year in four of the last five years, although they lost 3-2 to Derby in 2023.

• Plymouth Argyle lost their final league game of the year in 2023, losing 2-1 to Southampton, though the Pilgrims haven't ended a year with defeat in back-to-back years since doing so between 1994 and 1996.

• Plymouth's Morgan Whittaker has scored in both of his league games against Oxford United, netting for Lincoln in January 2022 and the Pilgrims in September 2022.

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Plymouth Argyle head coach Wayne Rooney says Callum Wright was "stupid" to get himself sent off in his side's 4-0 loss at Coventry City.

With the game already lost, Wright was shown a straight red card in the 87th minute for a foul on Joel Latibeaudiere.

It means Wright will miss the rest of the festive period, adding to problems Rooney has with his depleted squad bottom of the Championship.

The Argyle boss was already without forwards Morgan Whittaker, Ibrahim Cissoko, Muhamed Tijani and Michael Obafemi before Mustapha Bundu injured his hamstring in the loss.

The Pilgrims are also without captain Joe Edwards and ended the game with teenagers Freddie Issaka and Tegan Finn on the field.

"It's stupid," Rooney said of Wright's red card.

"It's a stupid tackle. Emotions run high in games, especially when you're losing the game the way we were.

"Sometimes it happens, but it's such a silly tackle to make and you could see it coming.

"I know he'll be disappointed with himself for the tackle and I'll certainly be having a word with him over it."

Coventry's humbling defeat by Portsmouth at the weekend was their third defeat in six Championship games.

That defeat left them 17th in the table and six points off the drop zone.

Meanwhile, Plymouth are rock bottom of the pile and without a win since beating Portsmouth on 5 November.

• Coventry City have won eight of their last 11 home league matches against Plymouth Argyle (D1 L2) and have won each of their last two.

• Plymouth have won just one of their last six league meetings with Coventry City (D2 L3), beating them 2-1 in League One in January 2019.

• Coventry have won six of their last seven home league games on Boxing Day (D1), last losing on home soil on December 26 in 2007 against Crystal Palace.

• Plymouth Argyle have lost just two of their last 25 league games on Boxing Day (W14 D9), going down 2-0 to Newport in 2014 and 2-1 to AFC Wimbledon in 2018.

• Plymouth manager Wayne Rooney has lost both of his Championship games on Boxing Day, losing with Derby in 2020 and Birmingham last year.

Image source, Getty Images

Plymouth Argyle boss Wayne Rooney says his side will not get a day off between now and their final game of the Christmas period.

The Pilgrims are bottom of the Championship and face four games in 10 days - three away from home.

Argyle are on a seven-game winless run, although they impressed in their 2-0 loss at league leaders Sheffield United last week and again in their 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday, where they led three times.

"There's no days off from now until 4 January, so it's a really busy time," Rooney said.

"I really like this period where the players come together.

"It's an opportunity for us to try and put points on the board.

"But it requires a lot of work, a lot of everyone being professional, everyone making sure they're doing the right recovery, making sure we're getting the balance right in training and having the players as fresh as they can be going into games."

Image source, Getty Images

Wayne Rooney says he has upped the intensity of Plymouth Argyle's training ahead of the busy Christmas period.

The Pilgrims host Middlesbrough on Saturday having won just once in their last 11 games - including losing their last four games in succession.

It has left Argyle second-from-bottom of the Championship, although Rooney's side do have a game in hand on the teams around them.

"We've actually stepped the training up to train harder," Rooney told BBC Radio Devon.

"I feel it's really important from now until mid-January that we step the training up because that gives your body a resilience to try and prevent injuries.

"We're trying different things to make sure we get the players in the right condition to get through the next three weeks."

After Middlesbrough, Argyle travel to Coventry City on Boxing Day and Oxford United on 29 December.

They will host Bristol City on New Year's Day before a long trip to Stoke City three days later.

"I spoke to the players and I feel it's something we need to step up," added Rooney.

"Yesterday we trained a lot harder then we normally would on that day because this time next week we'll be playing a game.

"We have to get our players' bodies into a shape and routine that they're ready for that hit every three or four days going up towards mid-January really, to give them that almost mini pre-season to get them through to the end of the season."

Image source, Rex Features

Muhamed Tijani is likely to be the first of Plymouth Argyle's four injured players to return to action, according to boss Wayne Rooney.

The Nigerian striker has featured just three times since his season-long loan move from Slavia Prague after tearing his hamstring at the start of October

But Rooney says Tijani could return by 'mid-January' if his rehabilitation goes to plan.

Meanwhile Ibrahim Cissoko is unlikely to feature until the rearranged visit of Oxford United at the end of January as he recovers from a hip injury.

"It's a long shot and it would certainly be from the bench if that is the case, but it'd be great to have him back around the squad," Rooney said of the Netherlands Under-21 player who has impressed at Home Park this season.

Fellow forward Morgan Whittaker is also due to return at some point towards the end of January from a foot injury, while club captain Joe Edwards is unlikely to feature until February after undergoing hamstring surgery.