Ipswich game was too soon for Scarr

STEVEN Schumacher has explained why he decided not to send on Dan Scarr as a substitute for injured defender James Bolton during Plymouth Argyle’s 1-0 defeat away to Ipswich Town.

The Pilgrims’ boss went with Romoney Crichlow instead of Scarr when Bolton had to be taken off in the 24th minute at Portman Road because of an ankle injury.

Scarr was included among Argyle’s seven substitutes after missing the previous 10 matches due to a torn hamstring.

Schumacher felt it was too soon to call upon the 27-year-old at that early stage of the game when he had only returned to training at the start of the week.

Crichlow, the loan signing of Huddersfield Town, has been a regular on the bench for the Pilgrims over the past couple of months. He made just his third appearance for Argyle, and his first since the 3-3 draw at Fleetwood Town on January 28, when he replaced Bolton.

After two months without a game it was perhaps not surprising that Crichlow struggled to begin with against Ipswich, who scored their winning goal in the 37th minute.

Schumacher said: “He hasn’t played for a long time so his timing (was off) maybe and a couple of decisions, but that happens when you are not in a rhythm. Second half I thought he was fine.

“Dan Scarr was obviously on the bench. I spoke to Keith (Downing, first team head coach) about it and we both said it was probably not the right idea to play Scarrsy.

“He had only had two days really of intense training. To put him on with 70 minutes to go away at Ipswich probably would have been a bit unfair.

“Crich has trained well, he was ready and deserved his opportunity, and I felt he did okay. We will have to get some training in Dan and see what type of team we pick for Saturday.”