Plymouth Argyle defender Brendan Galloway not joining up with Zimbabwe after all

Plymouth Argyle defender Brendan Galloway is ‘not quite ready’ to join up with the Zimbabwe squad for their first two 2026 World Cup qualifiers according to director of football Neil Dewsnip.

Galloway has resumed training with the rest of the Pilgrims’ squad after recovering from long-term injury but has not played a game yet or been included in a matchday squad. The 27-year-old was named in a provisional 28-strong Zimbabwe for their Group C games against Rwanda on Wednesday and Nigeria on Sunday.

However, that has now been cut down to 23 players and Galloway is not among them. Instead, he will continue working away on his fitness with Argyle during the latest two-week international break, which began today.

Dewsnip told Plymouth Live: “Truth be known he’s not quite ready. Schuey (manager Steven Schumacher) has not put him back in our squad yet.”

Galloway was born in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, but moved to the UK with his family at a young age and played for England at various age groups up to under-21s.

Shortly before joining Argyle in the summer of 2021 Galloway transferred his international allegiance to Zimbabwe and he has played twice for them at senior level.

After the current international break, Zimbabwe’s next two World Cup qualifiers will not be until June 2024 when they will play Lesotho and South Africa. Galloway’s contract with the Pilgrims also expires at the end of that month.

Argyle do have two players away on international duty this week with goalkeeper Conor Hazard and striker Ben Waine joining up with Northern Ireland and New Zealand respectively.

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Ryan Hardie travelled with the Plymouth Argyle squad to Leeds United at the weekend but there was never any intention of the injured striker being involved in the Championship match.

Director of football Neil Dewsnip thought it was good for Hardie’s morale to be with his team-mates for the trip to Elland Road. The 26-year-old was out on the pitch before the game but did not take part in the warm-up.

However, it was an encouraging sign he is not too far off of a return to action. Hardie has missed the last two matches due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the first half of the 3-2 defeat away to Ipswich Town on October 28.

Argyle do not play again until Saturday, November 25, when they will take on Sunderland at a sold-out Home Park, due to the third international break of the season, which began today.

Hardie hopes to be fit again by then, although manager Steven Schumacher told the media last Thursday he thought it might be a little longer than that.

On Hardie being at Leeds, Dewsnip told Plymouth Live: “He wanted to be around, which I think is really positive. Probably some of the supporters thought ‘Oh my God, he’s going to play’. No, he wasn’t about to do that.

“Schuey will not rush Ryan. He will get him ready with the medical team and he will go back in as and when he’s ready. I actually don’t know when that will be, but the international window is really helpful.

“Ryan is a well thought of, popular player within the squad and within the staff so it’s certainly no hardship for him to come with us (to Leeds). I think you will find lots of clubs do similar things. It’s good for Ryan’s morale.”

Another Argyle striker, Mustapha Bundu, also suffered a hamstring injury against Ipswich and there are hopes he will be able to make his comeback against sixth-placed Sunderland.

Dewsnip said: “They (Hardie and Bundu) are both getting closer. Will they be ready for Sunderland? I can’t tell you exactly but hopefully they will be pretty close.”

Bundu was not with the Argyle squad at Leeds. He joined the Pilgrims from Belgian club Anderlecht just hours before the summer transfer window closed. It was a rush to finalise the move and the weekend just gone was an opportunity for Bundu to bring some of his things over to the UK.