Plymouth Argyle should take punt on ex-Swansea City attacker after devastating Caleb Watts blow | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle should take a punt on signing former Swansea City man Josh Ginnelly after Caleb Watts' hamstring injury.

It has been a slow start to the season for Plymouth Argyle and, just as things begin to be turning around for the Pilgrims, they have been dealt a big blow with an injury to Caleb Watts.

It has been confirmed that Watts has suffered a hamstring injury that is expected to see him sidelined for around four months, leaving Plymouth shorter than they would like in the final third of the pitch.

Under the management of former Watford boss Tom Cleverley, Plymouth have been quite entertaining to watch and that is with the 3-4-2-1 system in which Watts has featured as one of the two players in the ‘two’ alongside Bali Mumba.

The 23-year-old Australia youth international has been one of their better players this season, and has also been key to a recent turnaround n form in which they have won three of their last four matches; scoring in a recent 4-2 victory over Stockport County at Home Park.

The versatility of Watts is something that will be missed, but Cleverley and Plymouth have only named 21 players in their EFL squad, and so there is a space that can be filled by a free agent.

One man that they should seek to pounce on to help out in attack, at least for the first-half of this season, is former Swansea City attacker Josh Ginnelly.

Plymouth should take a punt on Josh Ginnelly

Josh Ginnelly was a player of real promise, and plenty of EFL clubs have believed they can polish what is a rough diamond with a bit of an injury prone past.

The Nuneaton-born winger began his youth career at Aston Villa before turning professional at Shrewsbury Town, but Burnley saw his potential after just three League Two appearances and snapped him up in the summer of 2015.

Disappointing loan spells followed before he found a home at Walsall in League One during the first-half of the 2018/19 campaign; once again earning a Championship move this time to Preston North End.

Once again, he failed to really deliver and found himself in the Scottish Championship at Heart of Midlothian, where he was again a success and helped the Jam Tarts gain promotion to the top-flight, before yet another Championship club believed they could finally crack the code, with a move to Swansea City.

His two-year stint at Swansea has been a frustrating one, with injuries clouding his time in south Wales, and he has yet to find a club over the summer since departing at the end of his contract.

The 28-year-old has been deemed to be an exciting project for three Championship clubs, and he has thrived at a lower level in the past, so given the chance to do so again could be extremely shrewd from Argyle.

The key issue and concern for Plymouth would be his injury record, and replacing an injured player with someone like that wouldn’t be ideal, but this is talking about taking a gamble, and the risk-reward factor should come in.

Ginnelly has proven himself capable of playing well at League One level, with several clubs certain he could transfer that to a higher level.

As a result, if Plymouth can nurture that development and manage his minutes, bringing him would appear to be a no-brainer, especially now with the absence of Watts.

Tom Cleverley could find a place for Josh Ginnelly

In their recent 3-2 defeat of Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, Plymouth stuck with their 3-4-2-1 system in which both Watts and Mumba slotted in behind new signing Lorent Tolaj.

Ginnelly would be ideal for playing in that same role as Watts, capable of playing wider to accommodate a 3-4-3 shape, or even playing as the forward and up-front.

He could also be deployed as a wing-back in an extreme circumstance, as Watts has for moments this season when Joe Edwards has been replaced mid-way through a second-half.

Watts’ versatility is something that Plymouth will miss, and replacing that will b veery tough, but finding someone with the pedigree, and still the potential, of Ginnelly, with a similarly expansive versatility, would be a smart pick up.