Plymouth Argyle injury updates on Morgan Whittaker and Ryan Hardie

Wayne Rooney has revealed that Morgan Whittaker had to be substituted during Plymouth Argyle's 2-2 draw with Watford at Home Park due a toe injury which had been troubling him for a few days.

Rooney also confirmed that Ryan Hardie had been set to start the Championship match but he ended up missing out completely because of a groin issue. He will now have a scan but the Pilgrims' boss hoped the striker would be available for the trip to Norwich City on Tuesday.

Whittaker walked slowly off the pitch when he was replaced by Callum Wright in the 68th minute against Watford and he will now be assessed by the club's medical staff in the coming days.

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Rooney said: "It's a toe injury, he has had it over the last couple of weeks. Fair play to him because he has really struggled with it this week. He has done everything he can to try to get on the pitch.

"We felt one knock would kick it off again and that's exactly what has happened. I think the players you need are players who want to play and Morgan never misses a training session. He has missed a couple this week with his toe and fair play to him for getting through the minutes he did."

Asked about the absence of Hardie, Rooney said: "Ryan was meant to start the game actually. He has pulled out this morning, he felt his groin. We had a conversation an hour-and-a-half hour before the game whether we played him or not.

"I would rather miss him for this game and maybe have him Tuesday (against Norwich) than gamble with him tonight and miss him for the next five or six."

Rooney continued: "He's having a scan tomorrow (Saturday). It wasn't too bad. We could have risked him tonight but he could have pulled out in the warm up or come off after 10 minutes and we lose a sub. I think it was the sensible decision to leave him out.

"The squad is going to be very important over the next few weeks. We have got another difficult game Tuesday, then Saturday (away to Bristol City). We know how important all the players are for this period.

"Including tonight, we looked at the three games and tried to have an idea of what team I'm going to play in each one. There will be changes, with players coming in over the next few weeks. We have to use the squad as best we can."

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