PLYMOUTH Argyle boss Tom Cleverley faces an anxious wait over the fitness of Bim Pepple after the striker suffered a worrying eye injury during Saturday’s 4–1 home defeat to Lincoln City.

Pepple, who has been one of Argyle’s few bright sparks in recent weeks, was forced off late in the first half after a clash of heads at Home Park. The 23-year-old had earlier given the Pilgrims the perfect start, firing them into a 12th-minute lead with a stunning left-footed strike from outside the box – his fourth goal in six games.

However, Cleverley admitted post-match he remains unsure how serious the injury is, with Argyle’s growing injury list already stretching resources.

“It’s such a shame because he’s getting better and better every week,” Cleverley said. “He’s growing in confidence, game time and belief. It’s a bad facial injury – he lost vision in one eye, not through damage, but because it completely closed up.

“We’re hoping it settles down by next week. I don’t think there’s damage to the eye, but we’ll see if stitches are needed once the swelling goes down.”

Pepple’s withdrawal was another blow for Argyle, who are already without seven senior players, including top scorer Lorent Tolaj, Bradley Ibrahim, Julio Pleguezuelo, Conor Hazard and Brendan Galloway.

After Pepple’s opener, Argyle were pegged back just before half-time when Freddie Draper headed in from Reeco Hackett’s excellent cross. However, the second half saw Lincoln, second in League One, take control.

Hackett was the chief tormentor, scoring a fine goal early after the break, before adding another directly from a corner. Ryan One rounded off the scoring deep into stoppage time after breaking clear from halfway.

A frustrated Cleverley added: “We completely came away from what’s made us successful. I’ve got a week now to make sure everyone understands why we’ve been successful, because in the second half, we looked like the team from the start of the season.”

The defeat leaves Argyle 15th, having now lost back-to-back games after a seven-match unbeaten run.