Mackie must play smarter
The Pilgrims' top scorer this term has been picked to start every first-team fixture so far this season, but he will be obliged to miss Saturday's home game against Barnsley. Mackie collected his fifth caution of the campaign during last Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Leicester City, which means that he must serve a one- match suspension.
"Jamie misses the game on Saturday," Sturrock confirmed. "There have been a lot of silly wee cards, for kicking the ball away and everything else, and Jamie and I need to have a wee chat."
It will be the second time this month that the Pilgrims have lost the services of a player who has been booked five time this term. Team captain Carl Fletcher missed the 2-1 home win over Doncaster Rovers, after becoming the first Argyle player to receive five yellow cards this season.
"We got away with it with Fletcher, but there were one or two of his cards that I wasn't too happy with," Sturrock added. "I'm going to have a word with the whole squad. We can't afford to lose players because of petulance."
Referee Danny McDermid booked Mackie at Leicester after deciding that the Argyle forward had dived in search of a spot-kick when he was challenged by the Foxes' Wayne Brown inside the penalty area. Sturrock declared: "I was a bit disappointed with it, because some referees would have given a penalty – and the boy Brown told a couple of our players that there was definitely contact."
When Sturrock was told that Brown had given a post-match interview in which he claimed that Mackie had "gone down like a fairy", the Argyle boss responded: "That was the problem. When he went down, he didn't make it look dramatic. I think that cost us dear."
Rather than dwell on last weekend's perceived injustices, however, Sturrock was keen to look forward to Saturday's challenge. He has plenty of options when it comes to replacing Mackie.
"Playing Alan Gow right up front is an option," the Home Park chief said. "He wants to play at the sharp end. Rory [Fallon] comes into consideration, and Cillian Sheridan – and maybe Ashley Barnes as well.
"The boy [Joe] Mason has been very exciting in training lately. That would be a huge leap of faith, but I've done it before. It's something to think about. We have a lot of options, it's just getting it right on the day."
Mackie will not be the only member of Argyle's squad who will be unavailable against the Tykes. David Gray, Chris Barker and Bradley Wright-Phillips will be absent because of injuries. Two players who limped out of last weekend's contest against Leicester are doubts.
Jim Paterson sustained a hamstring injury at the Walkers Stadium, while Karl Duguid also had to be substituted. He was hindered by a calf muscle strain and a 'dead leg'. "They're both under treatment," Sturrock explained. "Jim tightened up dramatically during the game, and you could tell it was going to pull any second. We probably got him off just in time. There may be some tears to some wee fibres in there, but it's not as bad as we thought.
"Duguid has a tight calf and a dead leg as well, so we're working on him too. We're not ruling out either of them [from Saturday's game]. We also have a bit of a virus in the camp," Sturrock added. "Gary Sawyer has been off for the last couple of days, and so has David McNamee."
The Football League's autumn window for short-term loan signings shuts tomorrow. Argyle do not intend to bring in any more players, but one outbound deal may be done. The Pilgrims have allowed striker George Donnelly to train with League One side Southampton, with a view to a temporary transfer.
Sturrock confirmed: "Donnelly is on trial with Southampton. They wanted to look at him in their own environment. They were very impressed with him when he played here against them in a reserve game [last month]."
There have been no takers so far for fellow Argyle striker Steve MacLean, who has been made available for transfer. Aberdeen were keen to borrow him last summer, but were unable to finance a deal. The Dons may make another attempt to take the Scotsman back to his homeland in January, but obstacles remain in the way of a switch to Pittodrie.
Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee said: "If Steve is going to be available, then it's something we're going to have to look into, but you don't get players of his quality for nothing.
"If he's free to go, that might mean he can leave if someone picks up the cost of the remainder of his deal at Plymouth. If that's the case, it might still price Steve out of our range."
MacLean, for whom the Pilgrims paid a fee of £500,000 to Cardiff City in January last year, is under contract at Home Park until June 2011. "I'd be very hopeful that Steve can find a club, and any options will be considered," said Sturrock, who added that giving the striker a free transfer and paying up his contract was not a very likely option.
Comment on this story