Why these five Plymouth Argyle players have started every League One game

Plymouth Argyle's team at the start of this season has been far from a settled one, given a series of injuries which have hit Tom Cleverley's squad and the fluctuating form of players.

Cleverley has already used 24 players in the Pilgrims' seven League One games this term, of which they lost all of the first four before winning two of the last three, including the 4-2 victory over Stockport County at Home Park on Saturday.

Amid all the team changes, five of Argyle's squad have started each match, including two of the club's summer signings - Luca Ashby-Hammond and Caleb Watts, who joined from Devon rivals Exeter City. The others are Kornel Szucs, Malachi Boateng and Bali Mumba, who made his 150th appearance for the Pilgrims against Stockport.

Here is a look at those five players and why they have featured so prominently in the opening weeks of the 2025/26 campaign.

LUCA ASHBY-HAMMOND

The 24-year-old goalkeeper joined Argyle after being on trial in pre-season following his release by Fulham. He had only limited previous experience of playing in the EFL but a knee ligament injury to Northern Ireland international Conor Hazard has opened the way for him to start all 10 of the Pilgrims' games this term - seven in League One, two in the Carabao Cup and one in the Vertu Trophy, with 20-year-old Zak Baker on the bench as cover for him on each occasion.

Ashby-Hammond had a shaky start to the season - along with the rest of his team-mates it should be said - as Argyle's defensive vulnerability was exploited by opposing sides, but his recent performances, and those of the team overall, have been better since centre-back Alex Mitchell was brought in on loan from Championship club Charlton Athletic.

The presence of Mitchell has added some defensive resilience to Argyle which was lacking before. They did lose 4-0 away to table-topping Cardiff City on August 30 but two of the goals they conceded were big deflections off defender Brendan Wiredu past Ashby-Hammond, while Bluebirds' midfielder Ryan Wintle scored with an absolute screamer high into the net.

Overall, Argyle have conceded 15 goals in seven league games, which is far too high and needs to improve. Ashby-Hammond will certainly be hoping to add to just his one clean sheet so far, which came in a 1-0 home win against Blackpool.

However, he did become the first Argyle goalkeeper since August 2019 to get an assist for a goal when a long clearance from him led to Lorent Tolaj putting the Pilgrims 4-1 up against Stockport. With Hazard getting close to returning to full training, Ashby-Hammond will know he needs to perform well to stay in the team, and strong competition between the pair of them can only be a good thing for the team.

MALACHI BOATENG

The midfielder was signed by Argyle at the end of the last winter transfer window after spending half-a-season at Scottish Premiership side Hearts but hardly featured for the Pilgrims under then head coach Miron Muslic as he made just four starts in the Championship, plus five substitute appearances.

Boateng did play the whole game when Argyle went to Manchester City in the Emirates FA Cup fifth round and took the lead before eventually losing 3-1 to the then defending Premier League champions, but he did not really stand-out in any of the games under Muslic.

It has been a different story for Boateng at the beginning of this season with Tom Cleverley now as the head coach. The central midfielder has already played more matches for Argyle in the first five weeks than he did in the final three months of last term.

In addition to his ever present record in League One, the 23-year-old has started two of the cup ties the Pilgrims have had, and come off the bench in the other one - which was near the end of the Carabao Cup second round match away to Swansea City.

Boateng's prodigious workrate and willingness to track back and win the ball, or at the very least break up opposition attacks, have been features of his game and have led to him being selected as Plymouth Live's Argyle Star Man for four matches already. He also captained the Pilgrims for the first time against Cardiff, and is surely one of the first names that Cleverley writes down when coming up with his starting line-up each game.

BALI MUMBA

It has to have been difficult for Mumba to experience Argyle's struggles since Steven Schumacher left the club in December 2023 to take charge at Stoke City.

It was Schumacher, after all, who brought him to Home Park in the first place, first on a season-long loan from Norwich City in 2022 and then in a £1 million transfer the following summer, after Mumba had been one of the many stars of Argyle's incredible League One title success when they pipped Ipswich Town to top spot with 101 points.

Mumba had a great start with Argyle in the Championship after scoring a superb solo goal in the season-opening win against Neil Warnock's Huddersfield Town at Home Park in August 2023 as he thrived under Schumacher's style of play, usually playing as a wing-back.

It has never quite been the same for him since Schumacher's sudden departure, and none of Ian Foster, Wayne Rooney or Miron Muslic were able to get Mumba firing on all cylinders again. Muslic even tried him as a' number 10' last season given Argyle's lack of threatening attacking options, but with limited success.

Tom Cleverley has used Mumba in an attacking role this season, first on the left behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation, before he lined up as a 'number 10' in a new 3-4-2-1 system against Stockport, and in the second half of the latter match he played probably as well as he had done for quite a while. His quality and dynamism make him a must in the starting line-up. The question of where best to play him is still unresolved though.

KORNEL SZUCS

It was not long after signing for Argyle and breaking into the Argyle starting line-up in the Championship early last season that Szucs received his first senior Hungary international call-up and he made his debut as a late substitute in a UEFA Nations League game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

That was an impressive achievement for a young player moving from Hungary to play in the ultra competitive second tier of English football and he would have hoped to build on that.

However, perhaps not surprisingly given Argyle's recent struggles and their eventual relegation to League One, Szucs has not played for his country again. His focus for now has to be on his career with the Pilgrims and Tom Cleverley is someone who clearly values not only his quality as a defender but his versatility.

When you have a relatively small squad like Argyle have, and especially given all the injuries they had had, players like Szucs are so important. He has mainly played at right-back, but looked very comfortable on the right of a central defensive trio against Stockport, where he was able to show off the aerial strength he has always displayed.

Szucs must have been working on his long throw-ins too. They have become a regular part of Argyle's attacking arsenal this season and look to be slightly flatter but carrying more distance than they did before.

CALEB WATTS

There is always an extra challenge for any player when they make a move between clubs who are arch rivals, and that is to win over their new fans.

That was the case for Watts, who turned down the offer of a new contract from Exeter City in the summer and joined Argyle instead, and he has done a good job of impressing the Green Army so far, although there is certainly also a feeling that there is more to come from the 23-year-old.

He was one of the early summer new recruits made by Argyle so he cannot have felt all that comfortable about the situation when Miron Muslic left for German 2. Bundesliga club Schalke at the end of May and Tom Cleverley was appointed as his successor a couple of weeks later.

Fortunately for Watts, Cleverley's style of play seems to suit his game and he is another player whose versatility to play in a number of different roles is going to be appreciated by the Pilgrims' head coach. Watts was pressed into service as a makeshift striker in the League One season-opener against Barnsley at Home Park, when he had an early 'goal' disallowed but scored later on in a 3-1 defeat.

Watts has played as a 'number 10' or in a deeper central midfield role since then, and got his name on the scoresheet again in the defeat of Stockport with a terrific, swerving strike which will undoubtedly be an Argyle Goal-of-the-Season contender.

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