THE DAILY DIARY

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Greens on Screen's Daily Diary is a compilation of Argyle news, with help from these and other Argyle-related sites.

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On This Day:

Also included on the three most recent days, facts from Argyle's history.

Thursday 21st November 2024

On This Day:

2007: Ian Holloway shocked the club, players and fans by leaving his beloved Plymouth for the hot seat at Leicester. He lasted 6 months at 'the big club', achieving relegation. No manager in Argyle's history can have been so loved and loathed in such a short space of time.

20th

On This Day:

1992: Stockport 3 Argyle 0, and Kevin Hodges' last game, the end of 14 years with the Pilgrims, appearing 620 times in all competitions (the club record) and the only player to reach 500 league starts.

19th

On This Day:

1983: FA Cup 1st Round, Southend Utd 0 Argyle 0, the beginning of the road so nearly to Wembley (...more on GoS).

9th

Argyle battled well against Derby to earn a valiant away point at Pride Park on Saturday afternoon. The 1-1 draw ended a run of five straight away league defeats for Wayne Rooney's side. Jerry Yates's acrobatic overhead kick put the Rams ahead within the opening ten minutes. However, Argyle struck back, Adam Randell marking his return to the side with a fine free-kick goal just minutes before half-time. After late pressure from the hosts in the second half, the Pilgrims walked away from Pride Park with a commendable point in what was a closely contested game.

Argyle: Grimshaw, Mumba, Pleguezuelo, Szucs, Whittaker, Wright (Issaka), Obafemi (Forshaw), Bundu (Hardie), Gyabi, Randell, Sorinola (Palsson). Substitutes (not used): Marosi, Ogbeta, Houghton, Gray, Al Hajj.

5th

Substitute Michael Obafemi scored the game's only goal as Argyle outlasted a game Portsmouth side at Home Park. Bottom side Pompey hustled from the off, and had Argyle on the back foot, but the Pilgrims held firm, keeping a much-needed clean sheet and scoring late on to seal a 1-0 home victory.

Argyle: Grimshaw, Mumba, Houghton, Pleguezuelo, Szucs, Whittaker (Palsson 90), Gyabi, Gray (Obafemi 70), Al Hajj (Wright 62), Sorinola, Issaka (Bundu 62). Substitutes: Marosi, Ogbeta, Hardie, Forshaw, Roberts.

2nd

Argyle's away-day difficulties continued in Yorkshire, as Leeds United ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Elland Road. Three goals in eight first-half minutes did all the damage. The Pilgrims had set out to defend and frustrate Leeds, but after half an hour the home side burst through with a goal by Dan James - and efforts from Joel Piroe and Brenden Aaronson quickly followed. After the break, the game rather petered out, with Leeds comfortable with their win, and Argyle unable to lay a glove on their lofty hosts.

Argyle: Grimshaw, Mumba, Ogbeta (Gray), Houghton, Pleguezuelo, Szucs, Hardie (Finn), Forshaw, Sorinola, Roberts (Bundu), Palsson. Substitutes (not used): Marosi, Whittaker, Wright, Obafemi, Al Hajj, Issaka.

31st October

Happy Birthday to our fantastic Captain, Joe Edwards.

27th

Wayne Rooney displayed mixed emotions after Argyle's roller-coaster 3-3 draw with Preston North End at Home Park.

The game seemed completely beyond Argyle when the visitors scored their third goal on 48 minutes but, following a number of substitutions, Argyle clawed their way back to a thrilling conclusion with Morgan Whittaker's stoppage time goal gaining a precious point for the Pilgrims. This was the fourth consecutive home game in which the Greens scored in added time, and sent the remaining Home Park faithful into delirium.

Despite praising Freddie Issaka's and Andre Gray's debut goals, Rooney was less than satisfied with the overall performance.

"It was difficult to believe after an hour, being 3-0 down. I was very concerned. Some of the defending was nowhere near good enough," said Rooney.

"I'm angry today. I'm very angry today with that performance because we're better than that, and that's not us.

"Great, we come back, we kept fighting, we showed a spirit, but that performance is not us, and I'm very disappointed."

26th

An incredible recovery from Argyle from three-nil down saw Wayne Rooney's side pick up a point against Preston North End at Home Park. Goals from Sam Greenwood, Mads Frokjaer-Jensen and Brad Potts placed the visitors in the driving seat before the 50th-minute mark, but perseverance and determination from the Greens saw them end with a 3-3 draw.

Argyle: Grimshaw, Mumba, Szucs, Edwards (Pleguezuelo), Whittaker, Obafemi (Hardie), Randell, Forshaw (Gray), Al Hajj (Gyabi), Issaka (Bundu), Palsson. Substitutes: Marosi, Ogbeta, Houghton, Wright.

In common with other EFL teams, Argyle designated today's fixture against Preston in support of the Together Against Racism campaign.

Argyle Under-18s extended their unbeaten EFL South Youth Alliance League run to three games when they beat Exeter City 3-1 at Millennium Fields.

Goals from Seb Campbell, Harley Sneap and Kian Burch handed the Greens three points, continuing their winning streak in Devon Derby games this season.

Exeter took the lead in the 31st minute through Theo Cutler. However, the lead did not last long. Campbell pounced on an error at the back from the visitors and brought the game level, continuing his scoring run against the Greens' Devon rivals.

After the break, Argyle continued to push forward, causing problems for Exeter all over the pitch and creating shooting opportunities. The Grecians goalkeeper Dylan Shanahan was forced into multiple saves, keeping the game level until the 68th minute when Harley Sneap lobbed the keeper to give Argyle the lead. A third, by Kian Burch, in the final minutes assured Argyle of the points.

Head Coach, Jamie Lowry, said: "It was another strong performance from the lads. We were probably a little off in how I wanted to be on the press, so we spoke about being more aggressive at half-time, making it more difficult to play through and get through our press - we did that in the second half.

"Overall, I'm delighted with the performance. We spoke about building the momentum in recent weeks, and now we've gone three games unbeaten in the league, so it's something we just need to continue to do moving forward. We've got two games next week and want to get as many points as possible from those games."

25th

A crowded Sports Bar at Argyle's Far Post Club enjoyed a special evening in celebration of 50 years since the squad of 1974/75 won promotion to the old Division Two. Known as the Dream Season, Tony Waiters' Pilgrims came second in Division Three (the equivalent to League One), finishing just a point behind champions Blackburn Rovers. The Greens were the highest goalscorers in the division, with the legendary combo of Paul Mariner and Billy Rafferty netting 47 goals between them.

Organised by Forever Green and compered by Argyle's Rob McNichol, attendees were treated to the reminiscences of eight of the original team - Johny Hore, Bobby Saxton, Brian Johnson, John Delve, Billy Rafferty, Mike Green, Barrie Vassallo and Alan Rogers.

24th

Happy Birthday to Argyle Head Coach, Wayne Rooney, who is 39 today.

And happy 19th birthday to midfielder, Caleb Roberts.

Argyle's 1-0 loss at Millwall last night, although nothing like Saturday's calamity at Cardiff, nevertheless meant that the Pilgrims have scored just once in this season's six away games - and earned just one point on their travels so far.

Things might have different had a decision gone Argyle's way in the opening 30 seconds. Mustapha Bundu went down under a challenge in the area, and referee Sam Allison pointed to the spot, but retracted his decision as he then spotted an assistant's raised flag for offside. However, later replays seemed to indicate that the final touch before the ball reached Bundu may well have come off a Millwall player.

"In the first minute we should have had a penalty," said Head Coach, Wayne Rooney. "We just don't seem to be getting them little decisions, which could be crucial in games. And that was a big one."

Millwall then scored in the 13th minute, following a defensive mistake by Bali Mumba, and this turned out to be the decisive goal.

"I felt we had good possession of the ball, but we didn't do a lot with it," said Rooney. "We were a bit toothless in the final third tonight.

"It was very disappointing because I felt if we had that energy, or that bit of creativity in the final third, we could have had something out of the game.

"I put every attacking player we had on the pitch and tried to get more bodies forward, tried to get something.

"We didn't cross the ball enough. We didn't have enough shots. We didn't test their keeper enough. That was disappointing for us. Our decision-making wasn't great. It's something we need to look at and address because when you have possession of the ball, you need to do stuff with it, and I don't think we've done a good job."

23rd

Argyle's inability to score on their travels came back to haunt them again as the Pilgrims lost 1-0 at Millwall on Wednesday night. A goal after 13 minutes from Millwall's Romain Esse was the nominal difference between the two sides in an even first half, but after the break the home side's comfort with their one-goal lead grew, and in truth Argyle never really laid a glove on their hosts, who jumped above the Greens with the victory.

Argyle: Grimshaw, Mumba, Szucs, Edwards, Hardie (Gray), Whittaker, Wright (Hajj), Bundu (Issaka), Gibson, Gyabi (Obafemi), Randell. Substitutes: Marosi, Ogbeta, Houghton, Forshaw, Palsson.

Happy 31st birthday to goalkeeper Marko Marosi.

22nd

First-team coach, Kevin Nancekivell is 53 today. Happy birthday, Nance.

21st

Argyle Women have been drawn to play Watford at home in the quarter-finals of the FAWNL Cup on Sunday 1 December.

20th

Argyle progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Women's National League Cup with a 2-1 victory over Billericay Town.

The Greens were made to work for their win, falling behind after eight minutes as Bonnie Horwood curled in a free-kick. However, Charlotte Whitmore equalised before half-time, and as the Pilgrims took charge in the second period, Georgia Wilson stroked home what proved to be the game's winning goal.

The quarter-final draw takes place at 8pm on Monday 21 October.

19th

Argyle's hopes of making a winning start to their post-international window fixtures were dashed at Cardiff City, as the Greens lost 5-0. Never mind international break; this game was lost before the half-time break in South Wales. Cardiff going in as 2-0 leaders, thanks to goals from Alex Robertson and Rubin Colwill, was already an ominous deficit for the Pilgrims, but when Ibrahim Cissoko was sent off for pushing Perry Ng to the ground just before the interval, the writing was well and truly on the wall. After the break, Cardiff added to their tally via Anwar El Ghazi's tap-in, a neat finish from Callum Robinson, and a goal from substitute Chris Willock, who struck in after a corner was cleared to him on the edge of the area.

Argyle: Grimshaw, Mumba, Szucs, Cissoko, Edwards, Whittaker (Wright), Obafemi (Hardie), Gibson, Gyabi (Issaka), Randell (Forshaw), Al Hajj (Houghton). Substitutes (not used): Marosi, Ogbeta, Gray, Palsson.

Argyle Women's midfielder, Lulu Jarvis, has been called up for the Jamaican national squad for their upcoming game against France.

18th

Wayne Rooney was handed a one-match touchline ban and a £5,500 fine by football's independent Regulatory Commission for behaviour at the home fixture against Blackburn Rovers which led to his dismissal. Rooney's conduct was deemed improper and/or abusive, including insulting words towards a match official. It was further alleged that, following his dismissal, his conduct was improper and/or violent and that, by returning to the field of play after being dismissed, his behaviour was improper.

Rooney admitted the charges and will serve his one-match ban during the away fixture against Cardiff City on 19 October.

16th

The second anniversary of the death of the legend that is Sir Gordon Sparks. RIP Sparksy.

Sparksy would have smiled at this - Argyle U-17s inflicted a 7-0 Home Park defeat on Exeter City with four goals from Seb Campbell (including a second-half hat trick) and one each from Billy Devlin, Tegan Finn and Lewis Flowers.

14th

Argyle Women have been drawn at home to Poole Town in the first round of the Adobe Women's FA Cup. Argyle will host the Dolphins on Sunday 3 November.

Poole play in the Regen Arable South West Regional Women's Football League Premier Division, two divisions below the Pilgrims. They are ninth out of 11 teams, having won one and lost four of their five league games so far.

Argyle reached the fourth round of the competition last season, beating Ilminster Town and AFC Stoneham, before a thrilling victory over Oxford United in round three, following a penalty shoot-out. The run came to an end in round four, with a defeat by Nottingham Forest.

13th

Argyle lost 5-1 at home to Ipswich Town in the FA Women's National League Southern Division, but put in a battling, valiant display against one of the league's leading sides. Ipswich came into the game as the only unbeaten side in the division, having finished second last season, narrowly missing on promotion to the second tier.

The Tractor Girls took the lead, but Argyle levelled before half-time after Charlotte Whitmore's equaliser. In the early part of the second half, Ipswich scored twice, and grabbed a fourth and fifth in the dying minutes.

Head Coach, Ryan Perks, felt the scoreline flattered the Greens' opponents, and that individual errors prevented Argyle from pushing on in the second half after coming in level with the high-fliers.

"I feel like I'm going to sound like a broken record," Perks told Argyle TV. "I thought we were superb in the first 45 minutes. Yes, we allowed Ipswich to have the ball but that was the game plan. We went 1-0 down from a goalkeeping error, a big mistake, and it looked like we were going to come in behind. The girls showed a lot of character and resilience, worked hard for each other, and got the goal they deserved.

"We spoke at half-time about how Ipswich are a strong side. They're a full-time outfit. They work on different patterns. We've just got to be patient, disciplined, sit in that block and when we get opportunities to break out, just make sure we secure the ball.

"It's just frustrating that I keep having to say the same things, that we give away soft goals and we've got to get better. We are conceding them and we're doing it every week, so is that down to lack of belief, lack of confidence, maybe? Is it down to age? Possibly, but we've just got to get better at it and stop giving away silly goals because we've competed with an excellent side today.

"Ipswich will be there or thereabouts to win this league... the girls have been cheered off and clapped off because they've worked hard today. People on the outside will look at it and say we've been battered, but if you were at the game, I think you'd have a different opinion."

11th

Chris Wilder of Sheffield United has won the EFL Championship Manager of the Month for September, for which Wayne Rooney was one of the nominees.

10th

Argyle Head Coach has been nominated for Manager of the Month in the Championship. He is up against Chris Wilder of Sheffield United, John Eustace of Blackburn Rovers and Scott Parker of Burnley.

Loanee midfielder, Darko Gyabi, was on the scoresheet for England Under-20s in their away fixture against Italy. His 25-yard 57th minute shot equalised the game which England went on to win 2-1.

9th

Argyle Women lost their first Devon Derby of the season, falling 3-0 to Exeter City at Home Park. in front of 2,000 fans. City scored twice in the first half, with Sophie Gillies' effort and Sarah Stacey's penalty putting the Grecians in pole position on half-time.

Argyle were vastly improved after the break, going close on numerous occasions to narrowing the deficit, but could not register a goal. At the very end, seconds after coming on a substitute, Emily Toogood headed in from a corner to put the result beyond any lingering doubt.

Despite being unable to claim the three points, Head Coach Ryan Perks credits his side's resilience and determination in the second half.

"The result is not what we wanted," Perks told Argyle TV. "I think the scoreline flatters Exeter slightly. I thought they were better in the first 45 minutes, but in the second 45, we were better than them.

"We've got to try and bounce back," he said. "It's not going to be easy. We've got Ipswich Town at home on Sunday, an excellent footballing side and a full-time outfit, so we're not under any illusion that it'll be easy.

I think they've just got to start believing in themselves more. When you're losing, you lack a little bit of confidence, you don't want to make mistakes, but that's how we want them to play. We want them to be brave and to link play in the middle. If they make mistakes, that's on us as a coaching staff.

"But, if they don't play that way and don't do the things we're asking them to do, then it's got to be on the players a little bit."

8th

Six of Argyle's first team squad have been called up on international duty.

Defender Kornel Szucs could win his first cap for Hungary as they play the Netherlands on Friday 11 October and Bosnia & Herzegovina on Monday 14 October.

Fellow defender, Victor Palsson, is in League B action, for Iceland, against Wales and Turkey also on 11 and 14 October.

And defender, Brendan Galloway, has been called up for Zimbabwe for their double-header against Namibia on 10 and 14 October.

Striker, Mustapha Bundu, also faces an AFCON double header for Sierra Leone, against Cote d'Ivoire. These games are on 11 and 15 October.

Two of our Greens have also been selected to represent their countries at youth level.

Darko Gyabi is in the England Elite League Squad (MU20s) for matches against Italy and Czechia (10 and 14 October).

Freddie Issaka will represent Wales U19s in a pair of matches against Italy on 10 and 13 October.

But Ibrahim Cissoko has withdrawn from the Netherlands under-21 side, apparently through injury.

Josh Bernard has joined Tiverton Town on a three-month loan deal.

The 18-year-old midfielder, who signed his first professional contract in the summer, has spent some time with Tavistock this season, and is now heading to the east of the county to pick up some more experience, this time with Tiverton. He will join fellow Argyle, loanee, goalkeeper Zak Baker.

Striker, Muhamed Tijani has undergone successful surgery for a hamstring injury.

6th

In the absence of Wayne Rooney, Assistant Head Coach Pete Shuttleworth gave his delighted reaction to Argyle's last-gasp 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at Home Park.

"We keep making a habit of these last-minute goals, don't we?" said a relieved and elated Shuttleworth. "They feel great and it leaves the fans leaving happy, but yeah, let's do it a little bit earlier. It'd be so much nicer for my heart!

"I thought it was outstanding from start to finish. The slight disappointment is that we didn't kill the game off, because I think if we were going into the last minutes 2-0 or 3-0 up, I don't think anybody could have had any qualms about that.

"I thought we passed the ball really well. I thought we penetrated, we looked dangerous. Our attacking players were a threat for the whole game. It was a different kind of game because they came and sat in a little bit. We had a lot of the ball in the first half and we had to generate our own tempo.

"What we've done the last few weeks is challenge the lads to go and be more of a threat. We don't want to be a team who just talks about possession stats. We want to be a team who win games of football and win games of football comfortably.

"Going forward, we looked a real threat. Some of our patterns of play; it's really satisfying as a coach to sit there and watch what you've worked on all week come to fruition.

"I can't speak highly enough of [the players]. Not only have they taken on board everything we've asked from day one, there's a real good spirit here, but there's also loads of ability.

"This block of games has been fantastic little spell for us," said Pete. "It gives us something to build on. It's given us something to build on going forward.

"Nine points, and two disappointments away from home that we haven't got more. You can never be delighted when you lose, but actually the two 1-0s away, where we've gone toe-to-toe against two of the top teams in the division, have also shown where we've come as a team.

"The three home games have been great. We felt as an opposition last year [with Birmingham]. To come here, feel that here - the noise when the fans get behind us, when they see the team playing like that, it's brilliant.

"You go to bed tonight and you have a real warm feeling about winning home games in front of these amazing supporters here."

Argyle Women suffered a 2-0 defeat to Lewes in FA Women's National League Southern Premier Division action at The Dripping Pan.

The hosts took an early lead through Sammy Quale's freak ricochet, with Paula Howells adding a second after an error at the back.

Head Coach Ryan Perks was disappointed with the performance: "We've gifted Lewes three points today. It just wasn't good enough. We didn't do anything with the ball.

"I thought we lacked a little bit of enthusiasm without the ball. I've praised the players for performances and not quite getting the results, but the performance level wasn't good enough today. If you take the two goals out of this game, it's pretty even, but, we were poor today and not good enough."

5th

Another weekend, another Argyle home win, and another injury-time goal to send Home Park into raptures. This time it was Morgan Whittaker the hero, heading in a winner to give Argyle a 2-1 win, and doing so six minutes into a seven-minute period of injury-time. It was the third game in a row at home that the Greens had scored in stoppage time. It looked for a while like Michael Obafemi's first Argyle goal was not going to be enough to earn the Pilgrims a victory against Blackburn Rovers at Home Park. The on-loan Burnley forward scored after 15 minutes in a game Argyle largely controlled, but Blackburn found an equaliser in the closing stages, through substitute Joe Rankin-Costello, and it seemed that a victory had been taken from the Greens' grasp. However, Whittaker timed his goal to perfection, in more ways than one.

Highly rated, 16-year old apprentice, Tegan Finn, made the first-team squad for the first time, but was an unused substitute.

Argyle: Grimshaw, Mumba, Szucs, Cissoko (Bundu), Edwards, Whittaker, Obafemi (Hardie), Gibson, Gyabi (Houghton), Randell, Al Hajj (Wright). Substitutes (not used): Marosi, 5 Pleguezuelo, Galloway, Issaka, Finn.

Head Coach, Wayne Rooney, was sent off in the last minutes of normal time for remonstrating with the fourth official that the Blackburn goal should be ruled out for a trip on Ryan Hardie in the build-up. Having kicked a water bottle into the stands, the Argyle gaffer was sent down the tunnel but later joined the players for the post-match celebration.

Argyle Under-18s lost 3-2 to Swansea City on Saturday at Millennium Fields in the Professional Development League Cup.

Goals from Billy Devlin and Joe Hatch were not enough to push the Greens over the line, with a last-minute free-kick sealing the three points for the visiting side.

Head Coach Jamie Lowry commented: "It was a similar story, sadly, to how it has been for the last few games. Performance wise, we've been quite strong. We've been competitive and the boys have worked hard, but we just keep shooting ourselves in the foot at the end of the game with silly mistakes that cost us games.

"It's important to put that right and to learn from it quickly, but generally I'm pleased with the performance. To come back from 2-0 down shows the character of the lads.

"Maybe we lack that little bit of focus and let games slip away from us. Overall, I'm quite pleased but we need to go and win games rather than losing or drawing games when it's tight at the end."

4th

Argyle have signed free agent Andre Gray on a short-term contract until January to provide strike cover in the expected lengthy absence of the injured Tijani.

The 33-year-old has most recently played for Al-Riyadh in the Saudi Pro-League, but also has a wealth of experience in England's top two divisions and has scored nearly 200 goals.

After beginning his career with Shrewsbury, a loan spell led to a permanent move to Luton Town. During his two-year spell there, having scored 57 in 111 for the Hatters in the National League, Gray was signed by then Championship side, Brentford for whom he netted 18 goals in his first season. He then moved to Burnley where he scored 23 times as the Clarets were promoted to the Premier League in 2016. The following year and nine PL goals later, Gray moved to Watford where he spent four seasons, playing regular top-flight football.

In 2021-22, Andre had a loan spell with Queens Park Rangers in the Championship, scoring 10 goals. He then spent a year playing for Cypriot side, Aris where he was top scorer with 13 goals, and played in the UEFA Europa Conference League, before spending last year in Saudi Arabia.

He has also won 13 caps for Jamaica since 2021 and has three goals for the Reggae Boys.

Argyle Head Coach Wayne Rooney said: "Once we knew the severity of Muhamed's injury, we moved quickly to bring in a striker to replace him.

"Andre is a striker of real quality and has played and scored goals at the highest level. He will provide competition in forward areas as we head into a busy period of the season, and I am really happy to have him here."

Director of Football Neil Dewsnip added: "It was a real shame to lose Muhamed for a lengthy period, but we are delighted we've been able to move so quickly to bring in a player of Andre's quality to strengthen the forward line.

"Andre is a player of real pedigree and has been a natural goalscorer throughout his career.

"He has trained with the group for the last couple of days, looked sharp and shown the quality he has."

Joe Edwards has been voted Argyle's CT1 Player of the Month for September. Captain Fantastic won the supporters' vote with 46% of the poll, ahead of Lewis Gibson (43%), Adam Randell (7%) and Darko Gyabi (3%).

2nd

A second-half improvement was not enough for Argyle as they fell 1-0 to Burnley at Turf Moor - the Clarets' first-half penalty the difference between the sides.

Head Coach Wayne Rooney rued his team's slow start.

"Our energy was a little bit missing in the first half," he said. "We addressed it at half-time and I thought we came out for the second half a lot better, with more energy.

"We didn't take the ball as well as we'd have liked in the first half. In the second half, we took the ball, played around them and made it difficult for them.

"Being brave on the ball is the message we've being saying to the players from pre-season. When we take the ball, move the ball and we play through their press, it makes it very difficult for teams to get hold of us, as it showed again against Burnley, in the second half.

"I think with a little better decision-making in the final third, we maybe get an equaliser.

"There's a lot of positives from the game but, ultimately, we've come away with a defeat, so we're disappointed."

"The last four games have been very difficult games," said Rooney. "I think the pleasing thing, for the fans, for the players, for the staff, for everyone at the club, is that I think it's evident we can compete with the best teams in this league. We've shown that over the last four games.

"A little bit more knowhow, at times, will help us, but we're a young team. The lads are still learning the game. Over the last four games, I've been delighted with the performances, we've had some good results. Hopefully we can put this little run of games to bed before the international break with a victory on Saturday."

1st

Ben Waine scored his first Mansfield Town goal during their 2-0 win over Crawley Town.

The New Zealand international, who joined the Stags on loan from Argyle during Deadline Day, is yet to start for Nigel Clough's side but has made a positive impression in five substitute appearances.

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