Argyle show Kalala interest

MIDFIELDER JP Kalala is waiting to hear from Plymouth Argyle about a possible loan move

ATHLETIC midfielder JP Kalala is aiming to get his career back on track with Plymouth Argyle.

The transfer-listed Congo international has been on trial with the Championship strugglers as he bids to make a fresh start away from Boundary Park.

Kalala was invited to Plymouth last week and trained with Paul Sturrock’s side, although his hopes of playing in a reserve game were ended by bad weather.

He is now waiting to hear whether Sturrock will follow up his interest by asking Athletic about a loan move.

Kalala joined Athletic from Yeovil last year, but he was in and out of the team before being laid low by injuries.

Despite being under contract until next June, the 26-year-old was later told he could leave for free.

The size of Athletic’s squad means a number of players are not involved at present — including last season’s top scorer Craig Davies.

Boss John Sheridan left the striker out of his final 16 for Saturday’s home game with MK Dons, which ended in a hard-fought 2-0 victory.

Davies had started the previous match, but Lee Hughes partnered Lewis Alessandra after recovering from injury, while Chris O’Grady and Deane Smalley were named on the bench.

Sheridan admitted: “It was hard for me to make a decision like that and I would imagine Craig was unhappy.

“That’s what you expect from players when they aren’t even on the bench, and there are one or two others in the same situation.

“Lee Hughes hadn’t trained for 10 days, but I made the decision to play him and luckily it came off.

“I can’t keep everybody happy all the time, but I’ve got to do what I feel is best. And I don’t mind if players have a grudge against me because it shows how much they want to be in the team.”

Athletic had targeted a crowd of 6,000 for Saturday’s game, but they fell short at 5,530 (including 305 from MK Dons).

However, the number of home fans was up by around 700 on the previous match at Boundary Park.