Plymouth Argyle boost as player with ‘big, big heart’ set for return for Coventry City clash
Coventry City opposition news from CoventryLive as relegation battlers Plymouth Argyle set to welcome international back for crucial clash with Sky Blues
In their match against Coventry City on Easter Monday, Plymouth Argyle hopes to be strengthened by the return of a vital defender with a “big, big heart.”
Making the centre-back. Head coach Miron Muslic has stated that Nikola Katic has a chance to recover from a hamstring injury in time for the match against the Sky Blues at Home Park.
The Bosnian-Herzegovina international’s journey to Middlesbrough on Good Friday came too soon, but he is putting in a lot of effort to be healthy for the match as the Pilgrims, who face relegation, battle to stay in the Championship.
After suffering a knee injury last month, Makysm Talovierov might also be able to return to action before the season ends.
Muslic, though, was hesitant to place a deadline on the 24-year-old defender’s return to action since he didn’t want to put any pressure on him or the team’s medical staff.
After battling with a hamstring injury for several weeks, Katic, who joined Argyle on loan from Swiss Super League team FC Zurich in late January, was unable to play in last Saturday’s crucial 2-1 victory against Sheffield United.
Muslic said: “I think we are progressing very well with Nikola Katic. We are very optimistic right now but there is even a little chance to maybe have him available for Monday. He desperately wants, so we will try everything to push for this.”
He continued: “It’s never easy especially when the season is about to end and the loan players know they will return to their home club so they can lose a little bit of spirit but that’s exactly the opposite (with Katic).
“Nikola, that’s an international football player, he could use the next two-and-a-half, three weeks to completely recover but he pushed us almost – don’t get me wrong, it’s not a negative context – for the game against Middlesbrough. I like this.
“That’s why all the data, this is perfect. All the analysing, this is perfect, but that’s why you need a character check before you sign players. I knew in January, this is the right player for us
“I told you guys (the media) this is a player with a big, big heart, with a big, big commitment and look, he shows it even right now.”
Talovierov has a similar desire to get back to playing as soon as possible. Muslic said: “This guy is desperately pushing, he wants to help, he wants to support.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on him, I don’t want to put any pressure on the medical department. He’s trying his best, those guys are trying their best. Let’s meet somewhere in the middle. Why not?