Adams hopes beaten Pilgrims will benefit from increased competition for places
Manager Derek Adams hopes the return to fitness of Plymouth Argyle right-back Joe Riley will soon be followed by other injured players.
Riley made his first start for the Pilgrims since midSeptember in Saturday’s 2-1 FA Cup second-round defeat by Oxford United at Home Park.
He came into the side at the expense of Tafari Moore, after playing twice as a substitute following a knee injury.
Riley was booked in the first half for a foul on Oxford attacker Marcus Browne. He went on to play the rest of the match and Adams was pleased with his performance after such a long lay-off.
The Pilgrims’ boss said: “He was very good. You couldn’t tell that he has been out for eight to ten weeks.
“I thought with his composure on the ball, and the way that he won his headers, it was pleasing to see.”
The Argyle manager added: “At this moment in time, we need to get our injured players back as quickly as possible, and we are trying to do that.”
Argyle’s casualty list includes Conor Grant, captain Gary Sawyer as well as Scott Wootton, while Ryan Edwards has been an absentee after a chest infection.
On-loan Cardiff City midfielder Stuart O’Keefe is the latest addition due to an Achilles tendon problem.
Adams explained: “He has been struggling for a few weeks now with it, and he just felt he could not continue with the pain that he had.
“He has gone back to Cardiff and I would hope he’s back as soon as possible. He has not damaged it too seriously, so hopefully it’s quickly.”
O’Keefe’s loan spell to Argyle from Neil Warnock’s Cardiff ends on January 5. So far, the 27-year-old has made a total of eight starts and five substitute appearances for the Pilgrims.
Adams thought Argyle had been the better team even though they lost to Oxford. The Scot saw his side create plenty of goalscoring opportunities, but they were only able to convert one of them.
That was partly due to some excellent last-ditch defending from Oxford, while substitute Ruben Lameiras was denied a stoppage-time equaliser when his shot hit a post.
Midfielder Antoni Sarcevic found the net for the Pilgrims midway through the second half with a fine finish with the outside of his right foot, but Argyle were two goals down by that stage.
The visitors’ first goal arrived when former Plymouth striker Jamie Mackie played the ball outside to James Henry in the 49th minute, and he tried a shot from a tight angle close to the by-line. Somehow, it squirmed past Argyle goalkeeper Matt Macey and rolled into the far corner of the net.
Oxford broke forward again four minutes later and went 2-0 up when midfielder Cameron Brannagan fired a fierce shot into the top corner of the net.
Despite the result, Adams said: “I thought we were very good today. I’m sure [Oxford’s head coach] Karl Robinson would have said that we were the better team. We had double the chances that Oxford had and they are very fortunate to get through to the next round. We controlled good spells in the game and were unfortunate not to have gone ahead in the first half.
“We have lost two goals which were poor from our point of view,” the Scot added. “We could have it cleared before it got to the 18-yard box, for the first one .We maybe don’t shut down the long-range shot quick enough [for the second goal] as well.
“We scored a good goal. A ball down the side, a good cross, and Sarcevic makes a good run into the box.
“Over the 90 minutes, it was a thoroughly good performance from us. It was back to the performance we had against Fleetwood [the previous weekend]. We were on the front foot and I’m happy with it.”