Wayne Rooney confident Dan Grimshaw can impress for Plymouth Argyle

Wayne Rooney has urged Dan Grimshaw to grab his earlier than expected opportunity to be Plymouth Argyle's first choice goalkeeper after an injury to Conor Hazard.

Grimshaw is set to make his Championship debut for the Pilgrims against table-topping Sunderland at Home Park on Saturday, after joining from League One outfit Blackpool towards the end of the summer transfer window.

The 26-year-old played in Argyle's 2-0 Carabao Cup second round defeat away to Watford but Rooney acknowledged that had it not been for an ankle ligament injury to the in-form Hazard then Grimshaw would likely have been on the bench for the forthcoming fixtures.

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Instead, Grimshaw - who played 44 of his 91 league games for Blackpool in the Championship - will be between the posts against Sunderland, with the club working to bring in a free agent 'keeper before then as cover.

Rooney said about Grimshaw: "I think he's very quick across his line. We saw glimpses of that in the game we played against Watford. He's good with his feet, he can handle a ball and his decision making is pretty good as well.

"So I have no worries whatsoever with Grimmy coming into the team. We brought him here to compete with Conor to see who is number one.

"Conor was doing well and was probably going to stay in the team for a little bit but Grimmy has got an opportunity now to come into the team and it's on him to take it. We signed him because he's good enough."

Argyle's game against Sunderland comes after the first two-week international break of the season, during which time several of Rooney's players were away representing their countries.

Rooney said: "International breaks can be good things and bad things really. For us, we just picked up a few knocks so from that point of view it was good timing for our players to get over them.

"It was an opportunity for some players to get a little bit of time with their family, but also working to an individual schedule, and then working with the team all this week. I think we have managed the international break well. All of the (international) players haven't been here until today but we have had some good preparation for the game on Saturday."

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