Plymouth Argyle player’s short-term future could be in limbo following injury developments: View | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle suffered an embarrassing defeat on the weekend at the hands of a familiar face.

Former Greens manager Steven Schumacher led his Stoke City side to a 3-0 win over their fellow strugglers, and an early injury made matters worse at the Bet365.

With less than 10 minutes on the clock, midfielder Adam Forshaw was forced off and replaced by Jordan Houghton, an issue that impacted Saturday's result and could cloud the club’s judgement when it comes to the former’s future.

Forshaw has been met by a mixture of reactions from the Home Park faithful since making the move down to Devon.

As time has gone on though, the atmosphere has taken on more of a positive swell towards the experienced Englishman.

The 32-year-old reached triple figures in appearances for Middlesbrough and Brentford whilst coming up just short of that landmark with Leeds United, showing just how valuable an asset he can be for Plymouth both on and off of the field.

There are a number of young players in green and white and so having a figure like Forshaw alongside them can make a major difference.

As a result, his injury against Stoke comes as a blow to Argyle in many ways.

We are still awaiting further news from the club as to the extent of the injury, although Director of Football Neil Dewsnip did have the following to say to Plymouth Live: “He tweaked a hamstring. There was absolutely no signs in training all week and in the warm-up. He just felt something, and there we go. I don't know how severe it is, we will have to weigh that up. He's incredibly frustrated - I think we are frustrated with the situation.”

This isn't the first time that Forshaw has been troubled by injury, both as a Pilgrim and throughout his lengthy career too.

A hip injury in 2019 saw him miss a couple of years of action and 71 games of football for Leeds, a club where he would have made significantly more appearances, had he been fit for longer stretches.

Forshaw was one of a few January signings made by former boss Ian Foster, and he has perhaps been the most effective, making these potential injury woes all the more troublesome for relegation-threatened Plymouth.

It now remains to be seen what the future holds for the midfielder, with just two games of this Championship campaign remaining.

A big decision for Plymouth Argyle

Since Forshaw arrived in Plymouth, there has been no official confirmation as to the length of his contract, which is what makes this situation particularly dicey.

If Forshaw was signed by the club on a short-term deal, then there is no guarantee that he will ever play in the shirt again. Equally, if this injury is a major one, then his Argyle tenure is still in jeopardy as planning for 2024/25 takes its tentative steps.

Looking at the rest of the options in the middle of the park for Argyle and this isn’t the first setback. Leeds loanee Darko Gyabi returned to the Championship high-flyers last month and has since undergone surgery on his groin. Meanwhile, Alfie Devine has struggled to make any real impact and Matt Butcher left the club to sign for Wycombe Wanderers in the winter transfer window.

Jordan Houghton and Adam Randell are the remaining pairing as a result and, whilst they have a very strong relationship as well as the full backing of the Argyle fanbase, a lack of depth may well be an issue going forward.

This aforementioned lack of depth makes retaining Forshaw beyond this season all the more important for the club, you'd think. However, with that comes the risk of relying on a player's body that has let him down in years gone by - Leeds often banked on Forshaw's fitness only to be sold short.

There will likely be recruitment talks already taking place ahead of the summer regarding who can be signed for the midfield, and Forshaw has proven in this short period to be worthy of a spot in this squad also.

At the same time, past and present injury issues can't be ignored, and he isn't getting any younger. Forshaw can hardly be expected to start 50 games next year, so if he is retained, then the powers that be must proceed with caution despite the success of what they've seen so far.