Plymouth Argyle vs Portsmouth preview - Tanner poised for Argyle start

Reading loanee Craig Tanner could make his first start for Plymouth when they host Portsmouth.

The 20-year-old midfielder scored a sublime goal after coming on as a substitute in Argyle's 2-1 home defeat to Gillingham in the first round of the Capital One Cup on Tuesday.

Tanner replaced summer signing Jake Jervis 11 minutes into the game after the striker was forced off with a groin problem and he may be a doubt for the Sky Bet League Two clash.

Josh Simpson is pushing for a start having been named on the bench for the first two games of the season as Argyle boss Derek Adams looks to rotate his starting XI, but Deane Smalley remains unavailable with a long-term knee injury.

Portsmouth manager Paul Cook has a selection dilemma.

His team followed last week's 3-0 league victory over Dagenham & Redbridge by upsetting Derby 2-1 win in the Capital One Cup.

Cook, who has no new injury concerns, made seven changes for the cup game Derby and was particularly pleased with the performances of midfielders Ben Close and Danny Hollands.

Striker Adam McGurk is likely to start again after scoring against Derby on his full debut. Ben Davies, Matt Clarke, Kyle Bennett and Gareth Evans are also set to start, having been retained from the XI that defeated Dagenham.