Plymouth Argyle: Ryan Hardie and Bundu blows will impact 22-year-old, it’s time to step up: View | OneFootball

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Plymouth Argyle went toe-to-toe with Ipswich Town at Portman Road on the weekend.

The Green Army will take until the cows come home about the hugely contentious moment in the game, George Edmundson seemingly bringing down Mustapha Bundu as the last man but no foul was given.

Steven Schumacher and co certainly feel hard done by with this being the major turning point of the fixture, but the issues run deeper for those of a Plymouth Argyle persuasion.

Ryan Hardie went off injured with just over a quarter of an hour on the clock and there were then concerns for Bundu late on as well. Ben Waine is the man tasked with filling the void up front and Argyle fans aren’t convinced that he is capable.

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, whilst 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 on 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 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.

Plymouth Argyle: Annual wage bill and current highest earner at the club (footballleagueworld.co.uk)

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 aren’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 got a chance in green and white though, totalling just 240 league minutes last term and there is 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.

First, there is the clash with Middlesbrough and then after that, there is a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United before Sunderland then frequent Home Park.

This promises to be a pivotal stage in the career of Ben Waine at Plymouth Argyle as he experiences a true baptism of fire.