Julio Pleguezuelo gives Plymouth Argyle injury boost for Watford trip

Defender Julio Pleguezuelo has been passed fit for Plymouth Argyle's away Championship match against Watford on Saturday little more than two weeks after suffering broken ribs.

The 28-year-old was hurt in a collision with his team-mate Nikola Katoic early in the second half of the 2-1 win away to Portsmouth on March 12.

After struggling to catch his breath initially, Pleguezuelo was carried away to the medical room at Fratton Park fur further assessment but was later able to walk from the away dressing room to the team coach after the match, albeit in some discomfort.

The Spanish centre-back was ruled out of the 3-2 defeat by Derby County at Home Park three days later, but has worked hard since then on his recovery.

Argyle head coach Miron Muslic said: "He's a fighter. It was a serious injury but he did everything, together with the medical department, to make himself available.

"He had his first full contact training - because remember, it's the ribs - two days ago so we have the green light on Pleggy and that's something very positive."

The availability of Pleguezuelo is a timely boost for Argyle because Ukraine international Maksym Talovierov will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury he suffered late in the game against Derby.

The efforts of Pleguezuelo to get back to playing so soon, with the Pilgrims in desperate need of wins in their fight for Championship survival, speaks a lot about his character and commitment to the club.

Pleguezuelo signed an extended contract with Argyle earlier this month which will take him through until the end of the 2026/27 season. Muslic said: "That's why I tried to push to get the new deal for Pleggy because I realised how important he is on the pitch, and how massively important he is off the pitch in terms of his attitude, behaviour, being a role model.

"We believe in him and he's just 100 per cent Argyle. In those challenging moments some players will just simply disappear, and staying out for a couple of weeks longer, and he kept on pushing to support us and to help us to go all in the last eight games, so big, big credit to Julio."

Another injury boost for Argyle ahead of the game against Watford is that versatile attacking player Mustapha Bundu, who has been used as an out-and-out striker recently by Muslic, will also be available for selection.

Bundu was substituted in the first half of Sierra Leone's 3-1 2026 World Cup qualifying win against Guinea-Bissau last Thursday amid fears of a hamstring injury but he has resumed training with the Pilgrims.

Muslic said: "He's looking good. We double checked and the scan is clean. Mustapha could do everything with the team the last three days so he's 100 per cent."

The Pilgrims' boss also gave an update on Ryan Hardie, who was playing with a back injury before the two-week international break which has come to an end.

Muslic said: "Hardie was not involved in an in-house friendly last week on Thursday where he played an internal game, two times 35 minutes, with a high physical output.

"We tried to protect him to give him the best possible time to heal so Hardie is a step closer to his full fitness. With Musa (Bundu) and Hardie up front they are very dangerous."

Muslic added that Argyle's on-loan Slavia Prague striker Muhamed Tijani was 'very close to being selectable again' after he suffered a hamstring injury following the 1-1 draw at home to Cardiff City on February 22.

"He had his first session together with us two days ago so we have to be patient but I think the profile of Muhamed Tijani is just something very unusual and hard also to defend, and that's maybe a profile we missed just to have a big target player," said Muslic.

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