Injury blow for Argyle as Hardie faces a spell out
Pigrims’ top goalscorer expected to miss three weeks after picking up a thigh strain
PLAY-OFF chasing Plymouth Argyle will be without their 19goal top scorer Ryan Hardie for up to three weeks due to a thigh strain.
Hardie suffered the injury during the second half of the 1-0 defeat away to Ipswich Town in League One last Saturday.
A scan revealed that it was a grade one thigh strain, which is the least severe, so the Scottish striker should be fit for at least the final two fixtures of the campaign.
Those matches are away to Wigan Athletic on April 23 and against MK Dons at Home Park seven days later.
Hardie will be hoping, though, that he can get back in time for the Easter doubleheader at Wycombe Wanderers on Good Friday, April 15 and at home to Sunderland on Easter Monday, April 18.
Argyle manager Steven Schumacher said yesterday morning: “Grade one is usually two to three weeks. This one, because Ryan is an explosive player, might be about three weeks but he’s confident that it won’t be.
“It depends how quick he recovers. I don’t think he has had many muscle injuries since he has been here. We will always err on the side of caution because you don’t want to throw him back in too soon.
“We will just see how he goes, but we are definitely going to be missing him for the next couple of games.”
The first of those is against fifthplaced Oxford United at Home Park tomorrow and the Pilgrims are then away to mid-table Burton Albion on April 9.
Schumacher added: “Like any team, if you lose your top scorer everyone would be disappointed but we have got four strikers who can all add something different to the team.
“Jordon Garrick now will be excited that he might get a run of starts because he’s the most similar to Ryan - he’s explosive and runs in behind.
“It should be a good opportunity for him to go and grasp his chance, and hopefully get a few goals for us.”
Garrick, who was the substitute replacement for Hardie against Ipswich, has made a total of 21 starts and 23 appearances off the bench during his season-long loan from Swansea City, and scored seven goals.
Meanwhile, former manager Ryan Lowe has ruled out signing any of the ‘fantastic talent’ at Argyle for his Preston North End squad this summer.
The 43-year-old left Home Park in December to take over at the Championship club in December, and he is expected to make some significant changes to the North End squad during the summer transfer window.
Speaking at a Meet the Manager night, Lowe was asked about the possibility of him trying to sign any Argyle players.
He said: “I think first and foremost with the Plymouth Argyle situation, it was disappointing when I left, but I think at some point they always knew I was going to move on and one of my best friends, Steven Schumacher, is now the manager.
“I don’t want to take any good players off him, plus he’d probably charge me double if I tried!
“That’s not what I’m about. There is some fantastic talent at Plymouth Argyle, but ultimately I haven’t got millions of pounds to spend and they’ve got a lot of fantastic talent that would cost a lot of money. So to answer the question, it will be no.”
The vast majority of the Argyle squad currently chasing a League One play-off place are under contract until the end of the 2022/23 season.