AFTER a week and a bit of limbering up and stretching out, Plymouth Argyle's first-team squad will start to remember what it is like to play football matches this week.

The Coca-Cola Championship outfit, whose pre-season training work began July 1, face a busy schedule. The Pilgrims have first-team friendlies at Truro City tonight – their first match of the summer – and at Torquay United on Wednesday, plus a reserve-team game at Plymouth Parkway tomorrow.

The week's activity is part of the build- up to the campaign's opening Championship fixture, at Crystal Palace on August 8. None of the games will be too demanding. Very few, if any, of Argyle manager Paul Sturrock's squad, will be asked to put in a 90-minute shift.

The games represent the start of the quest for match-fitness for Sturrock's troops. Results matter little, if at all. In the week's first game, at Treyew Road tonight (7.30pm), Argyle will be expected to beat Truro's part-timers, but it will be no big deal if they do not do so.

The Argyle manager may give as many as 22 players some game-time this evening. "I don't feel that we're up to speed to the extent that all my players are ready to play 90 minutes," Sturrock said, when he was asked to look ahead to the trip west to Truro. "A large amount of my players will go down there, and most of them will get 45 minutes each.

"Then we'll turn it around, and the ones who come on at half-time in the Truro game will go to Torquay [on Wednesday] and start the game."

Wednesday's game against League Two newcomers Torquay will be one for the senior players, as will tonight's. Tomorrow's fixture at Bolitho Park, Manadon, will see the Home Park club's junior professionals and some of their apprentices gain some match practice.

However, since Argyle have more than 22 senior professionals, a few experienced professionals may start tomorrow's game against Dave Leonard's Carlsberg South West Peninsula League side.

"We've stuck in a game on Tuesday at Plymouth Parkway as well, because of the youngers players we have. Some of the older players who aren't involved in the 22 at Truro and Torquay will play there, as well," Sturrock explained.

Not all of the Scotsman's squad came through last week's training sessions unscathed. "We picked up a couple of niggling knocks in training at the end of last week," the manager disclosed, without saying which players were suffering. "It's the first time that has happened this summer. It normally happens at this time of year, but we can handle the three games, with the help of the youth team."

Asked whether the senior players who end up being sent to Parkway, and not to Truro or Torquay, were likely to be excluded from his first XI selection plans, Sturrock replied: "That's too early a debate. You'd be reading too much into things if you said that about anybody who plays at Parkway. Anyway, some of them might come back from injury too late to play on Monday, but be ready to play on Tuesday. I can break them in gently then."

Tonight's opposition for the Pilgrims will be playing in the Premier Division of the Zamaretto Southern League this season, after winning four promotions in four years. Truro are managed by former Argyle and Exeter City striker Sean McCarthy, and their squad contains Stewart Yetton, Marcus Martin, Joe Broad and Andy Watkins, who all had spells at Home Park.

McCarthy has added three former Exeter players – Santos Gaia, Les Afful and Danny Clay – to his squad this summer. "I'm happy with where we are at the moment, the lads are looking sharp, and everybody is looking forward to the Plymouth game on Monday," the Truro boss declared.

One Argyle player who will not be representing the Pilgrims this week is winger Yannick Bolasie. The 20-year-old has rejoined Barnet, who borrowed him last term, on loan for the first half of the coming season.

Sturrock wants the speedy flank man to continue to work on his game. "Bolasie came back [from Barnet] a better player, but there are still wee quirks in his game that I've talked to him about. I'm going to talk to their manager [Ian Hendon] about things, as well. He can only benefit from going there, and so can we. He has assets that any club can benefit from."

FRENCH midfielder Anthony Robic is having a trial with Argyle. The 23-year- old is a free agent, after leaving French second-tier side Tours at the end of last season. "I have an opportunity in England, so I want to seize it," he told the French media last week. "I will give everything during this trial, and we'll see what happens."

Robic is presumed to have played in Argyle's private practice match for trialists yesterday. The Dutch media has named two other hopefuls: René Bot, a 30-year-old centre-back from De Graafschap, who went down from the top flight in Holland last season, and Jasar Takak, a 27-year-old midfielder, who has been without a club since he left Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem a year ago.