Wayne Rooney opens up on Rami Al Hajj's situation at Plymouth Argyle | OneFootball

Pilgrims boss Wayne Rooney has clarified why summer signing Rami Al Hajj has experienced a lack of action so far at Home Park.

Plymouth Argyle manager Wayne Rooney has opened up about summer signing Rami Al Hajj, detailing why the midfielder hasn’t been a regular starter at Home Park during his first few months at the club.

The Swedish midfielder became one of 11 fresh faces to be recruited under the former Manchester United legend, joining from Danish side OB on a three-year contract, but game time has been hard to come by as the Pilgrims' struggles in the second tier continue.

Plymouth were humiliated in midweek, suffering a 6-1 hammering at the hands of Norwich City at Carrow Road, leaving Rooney’s men just two points above the relegation zone heading into their trip to Bristol City on Saturday afternoon.

With Rooney trying to patch up what is proving to be a leaky defense of late, Al Hajj is set to be in line for more starts on the substitutes' bench, with defensive-minded players more likely to be considered for selection, according to the 39-year-old.

Rami Al Hajj’s start to life at Plymouth Argyle

Joining for a reported fee of £840,000, the 23-year-old made a promising start to his career in green, making two initial substitute appearances before making his full debut against Luton Town at Home Park in late September, occupying the number 10 role. Al Hajj would go on to net his first goal for the club and contribute impressively in a 3-1 victory.

With attacking and free-flowing football delighting the Plymouth faithful in the opening stages, the level of quality both defensively and offensively has nose-dived in recent times, with Argyle winning just one of their last eight league encounters and losing four of them.

From this pattern, Al Hajj has struggled to be afforded a consistent run of minutes in the first team, starting only one of the last five league matches and failing to feature from the bench in recent outings against Leeds United, Derby County and Watford.

Wayne Rooney explains Rami Al Hajj omissions

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Rooney labelled Al Hajj a “flair” player and insisted a change to a more defensive approach to arrest their poor run of form doesn’t suit the qualities he possesses.

As reported by the Plymouth Herald, Rooney said: "I think Rami is more of a flair player. Early on in the season we were playing really good football and taking the ball, and that has dropped off a little bit of late.

"Rami needs to be in a team who plays football and at the minute, when we are going through this period, I think we need players in there who have a more natural defensive side to them, and who know the league and what the demands are.

"For Rami, I think it's taking a little bit of time for him to adjust but we keep working on that and hopefully we get him right to have an effect for us throughout the season."

Rami Al Hajj must continue to knock at Wayne Rooney’s door

With a run of starts in the team looking most unlikely at this stage, Al Hajj must remain optimistic in order to turn his fortunes around.

Hard work in training and positive performances when called upon off the bench is an immediate target for the 23-year-old, who will be hoping the form table can be turned on its head so more forward-thinking football can return under the Rooney era.

If the situation doesn’t improve, then there could be a case of a loan move materialising in January for Al Hajj to restore his confidence and regular playing time, but a lot can change over the hectic Championship Christmas period.