Plymouth Argyle were faced with more than just a defeat at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon.
Plymouth Argyle went toe-to-toe with Ipswich Town at Portman Road on the weekend.
Regarding the highly controversial moment in the game where George Edmundson appeared to pull down Mustapha Bundu as the final man but no foul was called, the Green Army will not stop until the cows come home.
Although this was a significant turning point in the match, Steven Schumacher and company undoubtedly feel badly treated, but the problems go deeper for Plymouth Argyle supporters.
Just over 15 minutes had passed when Ryan Hardie was carted off the field, and late in the game, there were also worries about Bundu. The man entrusted with covering the gap up front is Ben Waine, but Argyle supporters aren’t sure he can do it.
The extent of the Argyle injuries
Argyle returned home to Devon empty-handed following this 3-2 defeat against Ipswich, the other side who gained automatic promotion out of League One last year.
The champions of the third division lost Ryan Hardie to injury in the first 20 minutes while on the front foot.
PAFC’s match report on their website writes that his “exertions seemed to have extended his hamstring beyond a point of comfort,” and so Mustapha Bundu was sent in his place.
Bundu, the Sierra Leone international, opened his account for the club with a thunderous free-kick in the 3-0 win over Sheffield on Wednesday.
He himself had to leave the field of play, though, towards the end of the game, and here it is, in the words of Schumacher.
“We had to play the last 15 minutes with 10 men because Mustapha was injured. Even then, they still had belief to pass the ball, to still try and create chances, and we scored a great goal with 10 men.”
It remains to be seen just how bad the injuries to Hardie and Bundu are, with more news likely to emerge in the coming days ahead of Middlesbrough’s visit to Home Park on the weekend.
Can Ben Waine fill the void?
If Hardie and Bundu are to be absent for the ‘Boro game and other fixtures moving forward, then Ben Waine will surely be tasked with stepping up to the plate.
Waine is the only other senior striker on the books in Devon, but the Green Army isn’t quite convinced that he is the man for the job.
“He needs a loan move big time” and “Spent as much time on the deck as on his feet” are just two opinions from those on X as to what they’ve seen from Waine thus far.
He is a full international for New Zealand and scored his first goal for the All Whites in a World Cup qualifying victory over Papua New Guinea.
The 22-year-old has rarely gotten a chance in green and white, totaling just 240 league minutes last term, and there has yet to be anything to blow away the fanbase thus far.
“It’s going to be a hard watch with an inexperienced striker who so far looks out of his depth in the championship,” is what another supporter wrote online, and there are some big games coming up in which he may appear.
This promises to be a pivotal stage in the career of Ben Waine at Plymouth Argyle as he experiences a true baptism of fire.
The match against Middlesbrough comes first, followed by a journey to Elland Road to take on Leeds United, before Sunderland’s visit to Home Park.
Ben Waine is going through a real baptism of fire at Plymouth Argyle, and this looks to be a turning point in his career.
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