Tom Cleverley confirms triple Plymouth Argyle blow ahead of Barnsley | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley delivered a concerning injury update ahead of his side's season opener against Barnsley.

Plymouth Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley has confirmed that goalkeeper Conor Hazard and defenders Jack MacKenzie and Julio Pleguezuelo are all set for spells on the sidelines with injury.

After suffering relegation from the Championship last season, Plymouth are preparing for life back in League One, and it has been an incredibly busy summer at Home Park.

Following Miron Muslic's move to German side Schalke in May, former Watford manager Cleverley was appointed as the Pilgrims' new head coach last month, and the 35-year-old has been given strong backing in the transfer market by owner Simon Hallett, with 10 new signings arriving in Devon so far this summer.

Argyle have also lost a number of key players following relegation, including Maxi Talovierov, Adam Randell, Mustapha Bundu and Ryan Hardie, but their squad still looks to be in good shape, and Cleverley himself has admitted that "the aim is to be promoted" in the upcoming season.

Plymouth begin their campaign when they host Barnsley, who finished 12th in League One last season, on Saturday, but Cleverley has confirmed that his side will be without three of their stars for the game.

Tom Cleverley provides frustrating Plymouth Argyle injury update ahead of Barnsley clash

Goalkeeper Hazard was one of few players to emerge with any credit from Plymouth's relegation campaign last season, but Cleverley has revealed that he is set for an extended lay-off due to a knee injury sustained while on international duty for Northern Ireland last month, while he also delivered further bad news on the fitness of defenders MacKenzie and Pleguezuelo.

"Slow progress on Conor Hazard. The initial diagnosis was 12 weeks. We thought we could shave some of that off, but it's looking like it'll be the original duration. We'll be patient with him," Cleverley said, as quoted by the club's official X account.

"Jack [Mackenzie] has had a disappointing setback, as has Pleggy. We think Pleggy will have to have a procedure. We're looking to strengthen defensively."

Cleverley admitted that he is unsure whether striker Aribim Pepple will be fit enough to make his debut this weekend following his summer move from Luton Town, while midfielder Caleb Roberts could also miss the opening day clash against Barnsley.

"I don't have the luxury of two players in every position at the minute. Bim [Pepple] will be touch-and-go. Caleb Roberts hasn't trained today," Cleverley explained.

"Those conversations [on line-up] are pretty minimal at the minute."

With Hazard expected to be out for a few months, Cleverley has confirmed that new signing Luca Ashby-Hammond will deputise between the sticks in his absence, and he offered his backing to the former Fulham man after his infamous mistake in the pre-season friendly against Eintracht Braunschweig during his trial period earlier this month.

"Luca [Ashby-Hammond], we've been really pleased with. That freak goal in Austria hasn't affected him one bit. He's a good goalkeeper for this level and we're very comfortable with him in goal," Cleverley insisted.

Plymouth have one of the strongest squads in League One, so they will be able to cope with their current injury issues, but losing a number of his key men is certainly not how Cleverley would have wanted to start his tenure at Home Park.

The Pilgrims face tough fixtures against some of their potential promotion rivals in the early weeks of the season, including Bolton Wanderers, Leyton Orient, Blackpool, Cardiff City, Stockport County and Luton Town, so Cleverley would have liked to have a fully-fit squad available to help his side navigate their way through what could be a challenging period.

However, Cleverley has hinted that Argyle will need to dip back into the transfer market after their recent injury blows, and having already been allowed to bring in 10 players this summer, he will no doubt be provided with further support by Hallett over the coming weeks.