Cleverley expects two new Plymouth signings

Tom Cleverley says he expects Plymouth Argyle to sign a midfielder and a central defender before the January transfer window ends.

The Pilgrims have Julio Pleguezuelo, Joe Ralls and Bradley Ibrahim out injured, along with goalkeeper Conor Hazard, while striker Lorent Tolaj has a dead leg.

And they were left with few options on their bench in their 2-1 loss at Stockport County on Saturday.

Argyle suffered a further blow when Brendan Galloway had to go off with what looked like a groin injury after an hour, with Jack MacKenzie making his first appearance as his replacement.

"I expect one midfield and defensive line to come in," Pilgrims head coach Cleverley told BBC Radio Devon.

"I've got some experienced players on my bench today, but all in the same area of the pitch - Paterson, Dale, Amaechi, Oseni - all four of them wide or forward players.

"So they're the two areas that I need to be able to turn around and be able to freshen up for sure.

"I'd expect that tomorrow (Sunday) will be the day that we try and get those guys down to Plymouth. Monday morning medicals and Monday afternoon announcements, as long as nothing goes wrong.

He continued: "We've certainly funnelled down to two players who we are confident of bringing to the football club."

Galloway's injury is of particular concern to Cleverley.

The Zimbabwe defender had been in good form since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations - scoring three goals in six matches.

"We're a little bit worried about Bren. He felt something in his groin," he said.

"It's too early to tell, but he's a warrior. You can tell in his eyes, he's not right, so it's a worry."

But there was more positive news about top scorer Tolaj, who missed his second consecutive game after being injured in last Saturday's 1-0 win over Luton Town.

"His leg's still black and blue," the Argyle boss added.

"We fully expect that to be flushed out and he'll be ready to go next Saturday, free of any sort of pain. He was too restricted today and would have been in too much pain to get through, for sure."