Plymouth Argyle

Image source, Rex Features

Plymouth Argyle head coach Wayne Rooney says Callum Wright was "stupid" to get himself sent off in his side's 4-0 loss at Coventry City.

With the game already lost, Wright was shown a straight red card in the 87th minute for a foul on Joel Latibeaudiere.

It means Wright will miss the rest of the festive period, adding to problems Rooney has with his depleted squad bottom of the Championship.

The Argyle boss was already without forwards Morgan Whittaker, Ibrahim Cissoko, Muhamed Tijani and Michael Obafemi before Mustapha Bundu injured his hamstring in the loss.

The Pilgrims are also without captain Joe Edwards and ended the game with teenagers Freddie Issaka and Tegan Finn on the field.

"It's stupid," Rooney said of Wright's red card.

"It's a stupid tackle. Emotions run high in games, especially when you're losing the game the way we were.

"Sometimes it happens, but it's such a silly tackle to make and you could see it coming.

"I know he'll be disappointed with himself for the tackle and I'll certainly be having a word with him over it."

Coventry's humbling defeat by Portsmouth at the weekend was their third defeat in six Championship games.

That defeat left them 17th in the table and six points off the drop zone.

Meanwhile, Plymouth are rock bottom of the pile and without a win since beating Portsmouth on 5 November.

• Coventry City have won eight of their last 11 home league matches against Plymouth Argyle (D1 L2) and have won each of their last two.

• Plymouth have won just one of their last six league meetings with Coventry City (D2 L3), beating them 2-1 in League One in January 2019.

• Coventry have won six of their last seven home league games on Boxing Day (D1), last losing on home soil on December 26 in 2007 against Crystal Palace.

• Plymouth Argyle have lost just two of their last 25 league games on Boxing Day (W14 D9), going down 2-0 to Newport in 2014 and 2-1 to AFC Wimbledon in 2018.

• Plymouth manager Wayne Rooney has lost both of his Championship games on Boxing Day, losing with Derby in 2020 and Birmingham last year.

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Plymouth Argyle boss Wayne Rooney says his side will not get a day off between now and their final game of the Christmas period.

The Pilgrims are bottom of the Championship and face four games in 10 days - three away from home.

Argyle are on a seven-game winless run, although they impressed in their 2-0 loss at league leaders Sheffield United last week and again in their 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday, where they led three times.

"There's no days off from now until 4 January, so it's a really busy time," Rooney said.

"I really like this period where the players come together.

"It's an opportunity for us to try and put points on the board.

"But it requires a lot of work, a lot of everyone being professional, everyone making sure they're doing the right recovery, making sure we're getting the balance right in training and having the players as fresh as they can be going into games."

Image source, Getty Images

Wayne Rooney says he has upped the intensity of Plymouth Argyle's training ahead of the busy Christmas period.

The Pilgrims host Middlesbrough on Saturday having won just once in their last 11 games - including losing their last four games in succession.

It has left Argyle second-from-bottom of the Championship, although Rooney's side do have a game in hand on the teams around them.

"We've actually stepped the training up to train harder," Rooney told BBC Radio Devon.

"I feel it's really important from now until mid-January that we step the training up because that gives your body a resilience to try and prevent injuries.

"We're trying different things to make sure we get the players in the right condition to get through the next three weeks."

After Middlesbrough, Argyle travel to Coventry City on Boxing Day and Oxford United on 29 December.

They will host Bristol City on New Year's Day before a long trip to Stoke City three days later.

"I spoke to the players and I feel it's something we need to step up," added Rooney.

"Yesterday we trained a lot harder then we normally would on that day because this time next week we'll be playing a game.

"We have to get our players' bodies into a shape and routine that they're ready for that hit every three or four days going up towards mid-January really, to give them that almost mini pre-season to get them through to the end of the season."

Image source, Rex Features

Muhamed Tijani is likely to be the first of Plymouth Argyle's four injured players to return to action, according to boss Wayne Rooney.

The Nigerian striker has featured just three times since his season-long loan move from Slavia Prague after tearing his hamstring at the start of October

But Rooney says Tijani could return by 'mid-January' if his rehabilitation goes to plan.

Meanwhile Ibrahim Cissoko is unlikely to feature until the rearranged visit of Oxford United at the end of January as he recovers from a hip injury.

"It's a long shot and it would certainly be from the bench if that is the case, but it'd be great to have him back around the squad," Rooney said of the Netherlands Under-21 player who has impressed at Home Park this season.

Fellow forward Morgan Whittaker is also due to return at some point towards the end of January from a foot injury, while club captain Joe Edwards is unlikely to feature until February after undergoing hamstring surgery.

Plymouth will seek to get back on track, and out of the Championship drop-zone, when Wayne Rooney welcomes former teammate Michael Carrick and Middlesbrough to Home Park.

Argyle are second bottom and a point from safety, albeit with a much more inferior goal difference on their rivals in the bottom three, while Boro are sixth and looking to close an eight-point gap to the automatic promotion places.

• Plymouth Argyle have lost three of their past nine league games against Middlesbrough (W2 D4), with this fixture last season finishing 3-3

• Middlesbrough are unbeaten across their past eight away league games against Plymouth Argyle (W4 D4), since a 1-0 loss back in October 1964

• Plymouth have lost each of their past four league games, conceding 14 goals in total during that time. Not since March 2021 have the Pilgrims endured a longer losing run in the same season (five games)

• Middlesbrough have scored 19 goals in total across their away games in the Championship so far this season – the most of any side in the competition

• Middlesbrough's Finn Azaz has recorded 14 goal contributions in the Championship this season (six goals, eight assists), with only Norwich's Borja Sainz managing more (15 goals, two assists)

• Azaz is one of only two players to record both at least five goals and assists in the competition, alongside Sheffield United's Gustavo Hamer

Sheffield United's progression to the top of the Championship earned Chris Wilder November's manager of the month award this week.

Plymouth head to Bramall Lane having shipped 10 goals in their past two road trips.

• Sheffield United are unbeaten in their past five league games against Plymouth Argyle (W4 D1), with this their first league meeting since a 4-3 win for the Blades in February 2010.

• Plymouth have lost 14 of their past 16 away league games against Sheffield United (W1 D1), conceding 2.2 goals per game on average in that run.

• Sheffield United have won each of their past eight games at Bramall Lane without conceding; the last side in the top four tiers to win nine such games in succession were Chelsea in November 2009 (the Blues won 10 straight 'to nil' across all competitions).

• Plymouth are winless in their past 12 away league games (D2 L10), and have conceded at least four goals in their past two matches on the road; the last Championship side to do so in three successive such games were Bolton Wanderers in February 2015.

• Among all Championship managers to have managed 50+ away games since 2004-05, Plymouth's Wayne Rooney has lost the highest percentage of those (38/57 – 67%), while he has the joint-lowest goals-per-game away from home, along with Paul Sturrock (0.67 goals per game).