Zimbabwe have been dealt a major blow ahead of the resumption of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in March following revelations that England-based defender Brendan Galloway has been ruled out for the rest of the season following an injury.
The Warriors will resume their chase for a first win in the World Cup qualifiers with a date with Benin. But Galloway will not be part of the proceedings in the qualifier as the Plymouth Argyle defender has been ruled out for the rest of the 2024-25 Skybet Championship season.
Miron Muslic has admitted Plymouth Argyle are facing "an urgent situation" when it comes to adding more defensive options to their squad after Galloway was ruled out for the season by injury.
It leaves the Pilgrims at the bottom of the Championship and without a win in 13 games, with Victor Palsson and Julio Pleguezuelo as their only two fit and available centre-backs.
Lewis Gibson was transferred to Preston North End for a fee of around £1.5 million at the start of January, while Kornel Szucs is also on the casualty list and will not be ready to return to action until the game against West Bromwich Albion at Home Park on February 1 at the earliest. Galloway has had a succession of injuries since first signing for Argyle in the summer of 2021 and was out of action for a couple of months earlier this term due to ankle ligament damage that he sustained while playing for Zimbabwe in October. Now the 28-year-old is going to be on the sidelines again, and Muslic said, "I think that's an urgent situation because right now we only have Julio and Victor available, and they have to play every single game.
"If something happened to them, we are struggling, but we are working on this."
Muslic watched Galloway being part of Argyle's defensive effort when they caused an Emirates FA Cup upset by winning 1-0 away to Premier League club Brentford on January 11.
Then, in the Austrian's first game as head coach, Galloway was injured in the closing stages of the 1-1 draw against Oxford United, after which the MRI confirmed the severity of the problem.
"It's terrible news about Brendan, no doubt," said Muslic.
"He will need surgery, so he will be out until the end of the season.
"I think he was actually in a very good way; he played defensively very strong, and that's another player we are going to miss, not only his quality but his personality and mentality.
"Kornel will need another seven to 10 days until he can return, so that keeps us right now with only two centre-backs selectable and available.
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"Also, Victor and Julio have played almost everything over the last few weeks, so it's a challenging situation, but it's not an impossible situation," he said.
When asked what injury Galloway had suffered, Muslic said, "I don't know what I can confirm, but he will need a surgery, so he will be out for the rest of the season.
"All the feedback I get from Nance (first team coach Kevin Nancekivell) and from Joe (Edwards) is he's just a good guy and the right personality and the right character.
"He's exactly the kind of player and human being we need in this moment to face this challenge, and he will be out."
Galloway, who has made a total of 65 starts and 19 substitute appearances for Argyle, is under contract to the club until the end of the 2025/26 season. Argyle's squad is crying out for some new signings, with Michael Baidoo and Tymoteusz Puchacz the only arrivals so far this month, while Gibson, Andre Gray, Adam Forshaw, and Marko Marosi have all moved on.
"We are working, and sometimes things take a little bit of time, and we have to be patient, and we are," said Muslic. -- PlymouthLive.
