Wayne Rooney drops Plymouth Argyle update including fresh Morgan Whittaker news | OneFootball

The Pilgrims boss has provided his latest update on absentees at Home Park

Wayne Rooney has provided his latest update on the group of current absentees at Plymouth Argyle ahead of the upcoming clash with Oxford United at Home Park.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, relayed by club media via X, the Liverpudlian was also able to provide a key timeframe on when the Pilgrims will once again be able to call upon the services of their talisman, Morgan Whittaker.

Argyle are currently on a run of just one win in their last nine Championship outings, which came on home turf against Portsmouth on November 5th, with pressure continuing to mount on Rooney after successive away batterings at the hands of Norwich City and Bristol City, with the combined scores from those two encounters reading 10-1 to the opposition.

Wayne Rooney provides fresh Plymouth Argyle update involving Morgan Whittaker

The aforementioned Whittaker was one of four players pinpointed by Rooney when it came to discussing availability in his press conference, with the first of those coming in the form of Hungarian defender, Kornel Szucs.

The summer recruit had started 15 consecutive league outings for the Green Army after making his Championship bow against QPR on August 24th, before dropping out of the squad for last weekend's 4-0 defeat at Ashton Gate.

However, the Argyle boss believes there is a possibility that he could return to the squad for the visit of Des Buckingham's side.

"Kornel, potentially, might be available this week," Rooney stated.

"It's frustrating, when a player misses one game and then is fit the next. Over the last few weeks we've picked up a few little niggles," he added.

Whittaker was forced off after 68 minutes during Plymouth's 2-2 draw with Watford on November 22nd after suffering a toe injury.

And, after missing the last two games, Rooney has since provided a timescale on when the 23-year-old is likely to return to action.

"Morgan will now be out until January. It's his toe. He doesn't need surgery, but it will keep him out," he continued.

Despite this particular setback, there was positivity to emerge regarding the potential availability of Brendan Galloway and Conor Hazard.

Galloway has been unavailable since sustaining an ankle injury in October whilst on international duty with Zimbabwe, whilst Hazard was forced off in the dying embers of the 1-0 home defeat against Stoke City on August 31st.

"Brendan and Conor - I hope - will be back this weekend," Rooney concluded.

Mixed feelings for Wayne Rooney ahead of Oxford United encounter

Of course, it is a major blow for Argyle that they will be without the services of Whittaker for the remainder of the festive period, where there a number of crucial fixtures coming up, with Rooney desperate to accumulate as many points as possible.

Having already lost fellow creative force, Ibrahim Cissokho, until the New Year, it begs the question as to where the main source of goals and creativity will come from in a side which has averaged just one goal per game so far this campaign.

However, after the recent defensive implosions and prior injury woes in the goalkeeping department, there's no doubt that Galloway and Hazard would be welcomed back with open arms in the Pilgrims defence, as they go in search of just their second shutout of the season in what many will view as a six-pointer at Home Park.