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Conor Hazard was Man of the Match as nine-man Argyle earned a point at the weekend, with Dan Grimshaw watching on

Plymouth Argyle fought valiantly for a 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers at the weekend, with the Pilgrims finishing the match with nine players on the pitch.

Michael Frey’s opener had been cancelled out by Morgan Whittaker’s long-range strike, before Adam Forshaw was given his marching orders before the hour-mark for a second bookable offence.

Teenage talent Freddie Issaka was then dismissed in the dying moments for a high challenge on R’s defence Kenneth Paal, but despite their two-man advantage, Rangers failed to get past the indomitable Conor Hazard in the Greens’ goal.

With new signing Dan Grimshaw looking on after joining from Blackpool earlier in the week, the former Celtic man has given Wayne Rooney some food for thought as the battle for the number one spot hots up.

Conor Hazard fights for place in Plymouth Argyle side with Queens Park Rangers performance

The clash at Loftus Road was less than a minute in when the Northern Irishman had to make his first save of the afternoon, as he got down quickly to his left-hand side to deny Paul Smyth the opening goal of the game.

With Frey’s bullet header leaving him with no chance, Whittaker’s timely response gave the Pilgrims a fighting chance of earning some points on the road, before Forshaw’s moment of madness saw those hopes shredded.

But Hazard had other ideas, with a number of stops throughout the second half to keep the home side at bay, including a wonderful double save to deny Steve Cook’s volley, before recovering well to beat away Sam Field’s headed effort.

The 90 minutes at Loftus Road couldn’t have been better timed from the 26-year-old’s point of view, with pressure growing on his place in the team, not only within the Argyle fanbase but with Grimshaw’s arrival to the club.

In total, Hazard stopped nine efforts in West London, and will hope his performance has given him some extra time between the sticks in the weeks to come, with the new signing likely to be breathing down his neck.

Daniel Grimshaw, Conor Hazard battle will be decided by distribution abilities

As good as Hazard’s performance was at repelling the opposition during the Saturday lunchtime kickoff, questions will still remain over his distribution and ability with ball at his feet.

In many ways, the clash with the Hoops played into the goalkeeper’s hands, with Argyle having less emphasis on trying to build attacks themselves due to their man disadvantage, with all focus on preventing the hosts from taking the lead.

When your backs are against the wall like that, Hazard is exactly the sort of man you want on your side, with the former HJK Helsinki man always proving to be a steady pair of hands between the sticks, as he proved at the start of the previous campaign when he deputised for the injured Michael Cooper.

With Cooper now plying his trade for Sheffield United after a prolonged transfer saga that ran through the summer, there has been plenty of emphasis on Hazard’s style of play, which wasn’t helped by the opening day 4-0 defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.

Rooney is looking to implement a ball-playing approach throughout this Pilgrims team, and there have been examples where Hazard has been found wanting in that regard, which has led to the clamour of finding a Michael Cooper successor.

Grimshaw [pictured] is the man tasked with that responsibility after moving from Bloomfield Road, and the 26-year-old will have to prove himself to his new boss in the coming weeks if he is to prove himself to be the number one going forward.

Despite that, the Argyle boss [pictured] was delighted with Hazard's display at Loftus Road, telling Plymouth Live: "How we are trying to improve the squad, I want to create a real competition for places.

"Obviously, Dan came in yesterday and we didn't get the paperwork back in time to have him available today, and Conor has shown what a really good goalkeeper he is.

"He made some fantastic saves right from the first minute until the end so I was really pleased with his performance."

The Loftus Road showing has proven that Hazard is still fighting to remain as first-choice at Home Park, and now he is back to having two quality goalkeepers to choose from, Rooney will have some tough decisions to make in the weeks to come.