"Be careful" - Wayne Rooney urges caution over Plymouth Argyle defender | OneFootball

Plymouth defender Brendan Galloway has missed recent games for club and country, and boss Wayne Rooney has urged for caution moving forward.

Plymouth Argyle boss Wayne Rooney has urged caution over defender Brendan Galloway, emphasising the need to manage his recent injury issue carefully.

Rooney's side have had a difficult start to their 2024/25 Championship campaign, picking up just two points from four league games to date. While the international break has, perhaps, come at a good time for the former Manchester United and England man to assess where and how to change things for the better, it also gives some important players time to recuperate from injury concerns, with the 38-year-old manager urging caution where defender Galloway is concerned.

Argyle bounced back from an opening day 4-0 humbling at Sheffield Wednesday to earn two creditable draws (both finishing 1-1) at home to Hull City and away at QPR, where Rooney's men played much of the game with ten men and ended it with nine as both Adam Forshaw and Frederick Issaka saw red.

However, former Plymouth boss Steven Schumacher saw his Stoke City side pick up a 1-0 victory in Devon last time out on his return to Home Park, and Rooney's men were missing the services of left-sided defender Brendan Galloway for that defeat as the Zimbabwe international continues to struggle with historic injury niggles.

Rooney says Argyle must "be careful" with Galloway

Having started the season as the first-choice left-sided central defender, and playing all three previous Championship games, Galloway was replaced by Hungarian Kornel Szucs for the recent clash with the Potters.

Speaking to Plymouth Live after the defeat, boss Rooney explained the Zimbabwean's absence, while requesting patience in how they handle the player's fitness moving forward: "It's more of a hamstring, but he gets a lot of swelling around his knees. I think sometimes if your hamstring is a little bit tight, it puts more pressure on your knees"

Continuing, the Plymouth boss said: "With Brendan, we need to be careful, especially with his knees. He has had injuries before, so we need to be careful."

Also confirming that the former Everton youngster would join up with the Zimbabwe national team to be assessed ahead of their September matches, Rooney went on to say he expected Galloway to "be fine in a few days", though remained clear in hinting that the club will have to monitor his fitness carefully throughout the season.

On Szucs performance, the Argyle chief mentioned he thought: "Him and Gibbo (Lewis Gibson) done okay. You are hoping you get the clean sheet because they are very important to how we want to play. I thought Kornel had a decent game."

Galloway, who signed for the Devon outfit back in 2021, is an important part of the Argyle setup, and Rooney will be hoping to have him available more often than not as he looks to propel his side up the second-tier table.

Galloway didn't feature for Zimbabwe in Kenya

While Galloway joined up with the Zimbabwean international side prior to their African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Kenya and Cameroon, he, as expected, wasn't involved in Friday's goalless draw in Kampala.

Having been part of the England age group sides from Under-17 to Under-21 level(s), before switching his allegiance to Zimbabwe in 2022, Galloway has featured twice for the Warriors since.

Both club and country will be eager to get the best out of the talented, athletic defender for many years to come. However, for that to happen, there will have to be thorough consideration and clear communication from all as the 28-year-old looks to manage his persistent fitness issues. Argyle and Zimbabwe need to remain careful with Galloway.