Plymouth Argyle have given themselves at least a fighting chance of escaping relegation from the Championship with their signings during the winter transfer window.

They, rightly, made strengthening their defensive options a priority. After all, the Pilgrims have the worst goals against record in all three divisions of the EFL with 63, which is 11 more than Portsmouth. Unless they addressed that glaring weakness there was simply no chance of them staying up.

The big question mark, though, is do they have enough firepower within their ranks to score the goals they are going to need to win games? The answer to that will only become clear in time, and it will likely decide whether Argyle can avoid the drop into League One.

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Of their five signings from the start of January the only attacking player was Michael Baidoo, who has yet to show in four starts and one substitute appearance why the the club were so keen to bring him in, firstly last summer and then again when the winter transfer window opened, but the hope will be that he soon starts to settle in.

Argyle did make attempts to get in a new striker throughout transfer deadline day but without success. I understand there was one deal that was nearly done but it fell through.

So Miron Muslic will have Ryan Hardie, Michael Obafemi and Muhamed Tijani as three out-and-out forwards in his squad, while Baidoo and Mustapha Bundu can also be used up front but are perhaps better suited to other roles.

The one signing Argyle did make before the winter transfer window closed was 22-year-old Malachi Boateng, a defensive midfielder from Scottish Premiership side Hearts. Boateng signed a three-and-a-half-year contract so is clearly a player Muslic who believes will be an important part of Argyle's mid to long-term future, and not just for the relegation fight they are facing now.

The hope will be that the addition of Boateng will further strengthen Argyle defensively after the signings of Tymoteusz Puchacz, Maksym Talovierov and Nikola Katic.

Talovierov and Katic both made impressive debuts as centre-backs when the Pilgrims ended their 15-games winless run in the Championship by beating West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at Home Park on Saturday. Puchacz has also quickly become a fans' favourite as a left wing-back who can defend solidly but contribute to the attacking play as well.

The Poland international has made five successive starts for Argyle after making his debut as a late substitute in the 1-0 Emirates FA Cup third round win away to Brentford. He appears to be exactly the type of strong-minded character that Muslic is going to need in his side's current position.

However, it is understandable many of the Green Army are wondering whether the Pilgrims have done enough in the winter transfer window from an attacking perspective.

The supporters have seen Morgan Whittaker leave in a £6 million transfer to Middlesbrough. While nowhere near as effective as he was last season, when he netted a superb total of 19 Championship goals, the 24-year-old was still Argyle's most likely player to score important goals.

Ibrahim Cissoko has also moved on, with his loan from French Ligue 1 side swapped from the Pilgrims to Sheffield Wednesday. The Dutch under-21 international sparkled with his wing play early in the campaign under Wayne Rooney but then had a lengthy absence due to injury and, for whatever reason, he hardly played after Muslic took charge.

Experienced forward Andre Gray left Argyle at the end of his short-term contract in early January as well. So that is three attacking players no longer at Home Park and only Baidoo has come in.

Argyle will look to Hardie, in particular, as a source of goals over the rest of the season. He had netted only twice this season before his match winning double against West Brom but the 27-year-old is one of those strikers who can get on a hot streak.

For example, he scored five goals in the first six Championship games of 2023/24, and then struck four times in as many matches either side of that Christmas and into the new year.

Tijani will almost be like a new signing for Argyle given he has only made one start and three substitute appearances after joining on a season-long loan from Czech club Slavia Prague last July.

The 24-year-old has now returned to fitness from a long-term hamstring injury and while expectation levels for him will have to be tempered by the fact he was out of action for so long it is important to the Pilgrims' prospects he starts to make a positive contribution as a target man, a goal scorer and, hopefully, both.

Obafemi has scored only twice on loan from Burnley and while 11 of his 21 Championship games have been as a substitute that clearly is not a good enough record and Argyle need for him to improve on it.

With the distraction of the winter transfer window behind him, Muslic now has his squad set for the final 16 league fixtures. He can look to fully implement his style of play with work on the training ground and also in the video analysis suite, and they can all focus on trying to securing Argyle's coveted Championship status.

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