Plymouth Argyle come to Treyew Road after a roller-coaster 2015-16 season which saw them topping the League Two table at Christmas, fading in the new year but holding on to a fifth place finish to secure a play-off spot. A 3-2 aggregate victory over Portsmouth in the semi-final took them to Wembley in Manager Derek Adams’ first season at Home Park, where the promotion dream ended as they went down 2-0 to AFC Wimbledon.

Adams has certainly stamped his authority on the club. He’s only been there a little over a year but just three players who were in the first team before his arrival are left in the squad. A major issue last season was a squad that was too small to cope with the injuries that afflicted the team in the latter stages of the campaign.

And the end of the season saw same key departures, including four stalwarts boasting more than 560 appearances for Argyle between them. Most significant was former Skipper Curtis Nelson (246 games for the Pilgrims) who has gone to newly promoted League One side Oxford United.

However, Adams has not held back in finding replacements. So far 11 new faces have arrived at Home Park: Oscar Threlkeld, Nauris Bulvitis, Ryan Donaldson, David Goodwillie, Gary Miller, Karleigh Osborne, Jordan Slew, Jimmy Spencer, Yann Song’o, Connor Smith and Sonny Bradley. But manager Derek Adams hasn’t stopped there and is targeting a further 3-4 new additions before the start of the new season.

Of those players, three look particularly interesting:

The signing of forward David Goodwillie from SPL side Aberdeen looks like a major coup. Capped three times by Scotland and with Dundee United and Blackburn on his CV, it’s easy to see why the Home Park faithful are excited by his arrival.

29-year-old Latvian central defender Nauris Bulvitis has represented his country 19 times. He has been given the number 5 shirt that previously belonged to captain Curtis Nelson, an indication that Bulvitis is in line to take on the skipper role in the near future.

Striker Jordan Slew played for Blackburn Rovers, making his debut against Manchester United and has made two appearances for England under 19’s.

Argyle’s first three pre-season friendlies were something of a romp, with the Pilgrims notching up 22 goals and conceding just two in those three matches. St Blazey were dispatched 9-0, Tavistock went down 7-2 and most recently, Bovey Tracy were trounced 6-0. However, they faced tougher test against Torquay United last Saturday and were duly held to a 1-1 draw.