Plymouth Argyle face Morgan Whittaker fitness issue for Norwich City clash

Plymouth Argyle have a major injury doubt over Morgan Whittaker ahead of their away Championship match against Norwich City tomorrow night.

Whittaker had to be substituted in the 68th minute of the 2-2 draw with Watford at Home Park on Friday because of a toe injury, which Pilgrims' boss Wayne Rooney revealed in his post-match interview had been an issue for Argyle's joint top scorer in the build up to the match.

With an extremely busy schedule of fixtures coming up - Norwich away is Argyle's second of 11 games in 44 days - Rooney will not want Whittaker to miss any more matches than necessary, so that could influence the decision over whether he plays at Norwich or not.

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The injury-hit Pilgrims are already without captain Joe Edwards, Ibrahaim Cissoko, Muhamed Tijani until January at the earliest, while Brendan Galloway and Conor Hazard are still sidelined, although getting close to making their returns. Ryan Hardie also missed out against Watford due to a groin issue but it is hoped he could be available for selection tomorrow.

With Argyle playing Watford on Friday night they have had a little more time to prepare for the game at Norwich than they would have done had it been a 3pm Saturday kick-off.

However, despite that, Rooney still believes Friday evening games in the Championship after an international break are not right. He said: "Obviously, I know Tom (Cleverley, Watford's boss) well and he had players come straight here from international duty, which is crazy.

"I understand for TV and certain things like that, but I think there has to be exceptions where you take the players' health into consideration. They are on long flights back, they are asked to travel when they land and then try to play a game at a very high level. I think it's not great for the players, or for coaches in your preparation.

"I left Moose (Mustapha Bundu) and Freddie (Issaka) on the bench because they had not long got back. I think we need to take care of the players."

Argyle are in 19th position in the Championship, six places but only two points behind Norwich, who have drawn seven of their 16 league games this season. One of the main threats posed by City comes from 11-goal Borja Sainz, the Championship's top scorer.

Rooney said: "They are a good team, good energy. As I say every week, it's going to be a very difficult game. We got a good result against Derby last time out away from home so hopefully we can improve on that maybe."

The trip to far-away Norfolk is Argyle's third longest of the season, behind only Sunderland and Middlesbrough, so the squad are flying to and from Norwich for the match. Rooney said: "We had to be in the air by 11pm after the game but there was no way we would have done that so we are going to stay over and then fly back Wednesday morning.

"It's good for us to be flying, of course, but whether it was flying or coach we have to prepare right and make sure we do our best to try to get a result."

Argyle go into the Norwich game boosted by getting the latest in a series of last-gasp goals Home Park goals this season to snatch a point against Watford after a superb strike from Andre Gray in the sixth minute of added time.

Rooney said: "I think it's a big credit to the players and to my staff as well. We work the players extremely hard, we try to have them in the best physical condition they can be.

"I felt the last 15 minutes Watford did tire and we kept pushing. If that's something which can give us an advantage towards the end of games then we have to do everything we can to try to take that, but not push the players too far. I think we have got a real good balance of getting the players fit and ready to play for the 90 minutes."

Gray netted both goals against Watford in just his second start since joining the Pilgrims as a free agent in early October. Rooney said: "He has been fantastic. I think he's a great character around the dressing room. On the pitch, I think he's getting better - the more he's playing the fitter he's getting. I have been delighted to bring him in."

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