PLYMOUTH Argyle forward Morgan Whittaker has been ruled out of action until the New Year because of a toe injury.

Head coach Wayne Rooney confirmed the news ahead of his side’s latest Sky Bet Championship clash with Oxford United at Home Park on Saturday (3pm).

The loss of Whittaker is an untimely blow for the Pilgrims, who are also still without long-term casualties club captain Joe Edwards, winger Ibrahima Cissoko and striker Muhamed Tijani.

Whittaker picked up the injury during Argyle’s 1-1 draw with Derby County in early November and then tried to play through the pain in their clash with Watford, before he was substituted during the second half.

Since then, the 23-year-old has sat out Argyle’s losses to Norwich City (6-1) and Bristol City (4-0).

In the wake of those heavy defeats, Rooney did not shy away from laying into the performances of his players – describing it as ‘embarrassing’ – and is demanding a big response when they take to the field on home turf this weekend.

“I’m sure the players would be the first to put their hands up and say the last few games haven’t been good enough, so I’m saying what the players are saying themselves,” said Rooney.

“In my opinion, it’s not a big thing. We want to be better, we want to improve, and the only way you can do that, especially when we are going through a period like we have over the last couple of weeks, is being honest and truthful with where we are at.

“There is no point in me coming out and saying the players have done okay or they were better than they were. The game doesn’t lie. The players know that, we have spoken, we have had some very long meetings and gone through everything about the last few weeks. We are all on the same page.”

On a more positive note, Rooney is hopeful Conor Hazard, Brendon Galloway and Kornel Szucs will all be available for selection against The Us.