BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
Warriors defender Brendan Galloway will be hoping to exorcise his injury demons in the next few months and earn himself a long- term deal at his new English League One side Plymouth Argyle.
The former Everton starlet, who was released by Championship side Luton Town at the beginning of the summer break, was offered a short-term contract which expires in January and will have to earn a new one between now and the mid-season window.
Galloway has done enough to impress coach Ryan Lowe in pre-season training so far where he has played all the four friendlies, but has a challenge to stay fit until January.
The 25-year-old fullback joined Luton in 2019, but his career at the club was ravaged by injury which eventually led to his unceremonious departure.
He only made 10 appearances in the English second-tier competition.
“I want to stay here, simple as that. I want to work hard, I want to play well, I want to impress and hopefully I can stay here beyond then,” Galloway told Plymouth Live on Friday following the official announcement of his move.
“That will be the plan so we will see how it goes. If I do my bit on the pitch then I think everything else will take care of itself and we will be in a real good place.
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“It has been tough to deal with some of the setbacks, but I don’t think that any career is straightforward. This is part of football. There is a lot of ups and a lot of downs, a lot of adversity. It’s just about every day getting better.
“I have had a bad injury and from then it was just about me recovering, getting my body to feel right again and get back playing.
“It’s the way you deal with it mentally, more than anything, and I have got good people around me that have helped me along the way. So this is another part of the journey, something that I’m excited about and really looking forward to.”
Coach Lowe, who worked with Galloway at MK Dons about nine years ago, invited the player for trials at Argyle. He was convinced to gamble on the player, who also can play as a central defender.
The Harare-born footballer was one of the brightest prospects in English football at Everton a little over six years ago making 17 premier league appearances.
A loan spell at West Bromwich Albion saw the player make a further three appearances in the English top-flight league before he joined Luton on a free loan two years ago.
The move to the Green Army also augurs well for his Warriors career after he committed himself to play for Zimbabwe a few months ago by acquiring the necessary papers.
Galloway has played for England’s age group side including the Under-21s and was initially not keen to play for his country of birth early on in his career.
However, he is set to make his Zimbabwe debut in the World Cup qualifiers tentatively scheduled for September this year, but might have to decide whether to come or stay and fight for his place at the new club. Galloway has trained every day since pre-season training began on June 23 and played in all four of the warm-up matches.
“Pre-season has been tough. We have been really put through some hard work, but I think you will see that hard work will pay off. I personally feel great for it, and all the lads feel great. It has been a good journey so far.
“I have loved every minute of it. It has been really good. We have got a couple of weeks left and we are still working really hard. I just can’t wait for the season to start,” he said.
In League One, Galloway will rub shoulders with compatriot Tendayi Darikwa, who also signed a two-year contract with former premier league side Wigan Athletic this summer.
