Ryan Lowe hoping to welcome back Gary Sawyer when Plymouth host Swindon

Plymouth manager Ryan Lowe is hoping to have captain Gary Sawyer available for the New Year’s Day clash against Swindon.

Sawyer missed Sunday’s 2-1 win over Stevenage for personal reasons – the first league game he had missed since mid-September.

Joe Edwards replaced Sawyer in the side and took over the captain’s armband at the weekend.

The win lifted Argyle into the play-off places and Lowe’s side still have games in hand on the teams around them.

Swindon boss Richie Wellens has a number of injury concerns after the league leaders suffered a bruising 2-0 defeat at Port Vale.

Keshi Anderson limped through the last 20 minutes of the match with a muscular injury, with Wellens having already used all three substitutes.

Two of those were enforced after Ellis Iandolo and Mathieu Baudry both went off injured inside the opening 20 minutes.

Help could be on the way with Jordan Lyden returning to the bench after a thigh problem and Rob Hunt fit again following illness, but Tom Broadbent (calf) and Zeki Fryers (hamstring) remain sidelined