Wayne Rooney issues 'touch and go' Plymouth Argyle injury concern ahead of facing 'good team' QPR

Plymouth Argyle boss Wayne Rooney has issued an update on his side ahead of their trip to West London to take on QPR on Saturday. Like the Hoops, Plymouth are yet to secure their first win of the season, but they picked up a big point last weekend by drawing against Hull City, improving significantly from their opening day humbling against Sheffield Wednesday.

QPR have had the same pattern of results, losing their opening and then drawing last weekend after a cup win in between. Despite making double-digit new signings, QPR will still be tipped by many people to finish somewhere in the bottom half, and the same applies to Plymouth, who only managed six new signings, although a relegation scrap will be tipped for the Pilgrims.

Rooney and his men will be out to prove people wrong, and they will head to Loftus Road in search of that all-important first win this weekend. Ahead of the clash, Rooney issued a team news update, as posted by the Plymouth club website. “TJ (Muhamed Tijani) trained on Tuesday, but he pulled out towards the end of the session,” said Rooney. “He's got little knocks; he’ll be touch and go for the game on Saturday.”

Speaking after he joined in with an open training session with fans himself, he said: “It started well and ended badly, because I hurt my calf! That was TJ's fault, he pulled out, so I stepped in and hurt my calf!  Listen, the support from the fans was fantastic, to get 5,000 people to a training session. We got what we wanted out of the session in terms of some real high intensity work into the players, which the players felt they needed.  We got everything out of the session we wanted and hopefully the fans enjoyed themselves.” 

Plymouth’s start to the season

Asked about last weekend and Plymouth’s start so far, Rooney added: “I felt, in the last game, we performed well, and probably slightly deserved to win the game. We expect a tough game; QPR are a good team. They are a very functional team and do all the right things; they do the basics really well.  We know what we have to do, we've had a full week to prepare for the game, I believe the players are ready.  

“We want to play in a certain way. We want to be aggressive. It's the same at home or away.  We're traveling [Thursday], so we're going two days early to the game, to get down there and be ready, have a good rest before the game and make sure we're ready for Saturday.  It is always [tough] when you go to their stadium. It's a small pitch, quite a hostile crowd. They can mix it up a bit. They try to play, but they can also go direct. We're expecting a difficult game which every game is in this league. 

“We have to be at our best, we have to have a high level of concentration and focus, to try and win the game. Based on what I've seen this week, I think we're in a good place. The players are training with a smile on their face, they’re expressing themselves more and more.  I believe the preparation's gone well and I'm really looking forward to it.”