LIAM Head's Plymouth Argyle career could take off in a big way this month.

The Pilgrims' England Under-17 international striker may find himself spending July training and playing friendlies in the company of some of his Argyle youth-team colleagues from last season, and the Devon club's new intake of apprentices. However, he could be given the opportunity to stake his claim for a place in manager Paul Sturrock's first-team squad.

When Argyle's youth-team squad assembled at Harper's Park training ground for a media photo-shoot on Monday, Head was absent. The 17-year-old is eligible for the Pilgrims' Under-18 side this term, but he also has higher targets to aim for.

Just as Plymouth's last England youth international – Dan Gosling, now with Everton – did, Head took the fast-track route to full professional status at Home Park. Like Gosling, he signed a senior contract on his 17th birthday.

That milestone was passed in February this year. Head did not win selection for any first-team squad between then and the end of last season, but this week he reported for duty at Home Park with the club's senior players yesterday – when they underwent fitness tests in advance of the start of pre-season training – and not with the youngsters on Monday.

Head has plenty of rivals for a place in Sturrock's thoughts. Argyle's squad is bigger than the manager and, in particular, the club's money-counters want it to be. By no means all of the Pilgrims' senior players will be taken to Scotland later this month for a training camp at the University of Stirling.

Sturrock has pledged that every member of his squad will be given a fair chance to earn a place at the Scottish training camp. If Head is excluded from first-team training sessions because of pressure of numbers, however, he will be welcomed back into the youth-team fold.

"It's entirely a matter for the manager," Gordon Bennett, the head of Argyle's youth department, told the Western Morning News this week. "Liam is young enough to play youth-team football, but he is a professional.

"At the moment, there are 30 professionals, and it's up to him to work hard and secure his place in the 22 that go to Scotland. If he doesn't achieve that," Bennett added, "we will be more than pleased to take him with the rest of our [youth] squad to Keele University for a training camp in that particular week."

Argyle's Under-18 squad have a demanding but potentially enjoyable pre-season schedule to look forward to. Their first friendly will be against Arsenal's Academy side – the FA Youth Cup holders – behind closed doors at the Gunners' training ground in London Colney, Hertfordshire, on Friday, July 17.

At the end of their week at Keele, Argyle's youngsters will face Manchester City's Academy side at Alsager College, Cheshire, on Friday, July 24 (11am). Further friendlies are being lined up at Academy clubs Reading, Cardiff City and Aston Villa.

For some of Argyle's Centre of Excellence teams, there is also the prospect of a trip to Chelsea's training ground in Surrey later in the summer to face teams from LAFC Chelsea, the Californian club which is affiliated to the Stamford Bridge outfit.

LAFC president Don Sheppard visited Plymouth earlier this summer for talks with Argyle about a possible partnership with the Pilgrims. The trip to Surrey is understood to be still at the planning stage, though.