RYAN Hardie is set to become just the 71st player in Plymouth Argyle history to reach 200 appearances for the club against Ryan Lowe's Preston North End at Home Park on Saturday.
It seems appropriate that Lowe will be there because the Scottish striker was first signed for the Pilgrims by him in January 2020. Hardie had made just two starts and five substitute appearances for Blackpool in League One after joining them from Rangers the previous summer.
His only goal for the Seasiders had come in a 5-1 home win against Morecambe in an EFL Trophy group stage game in front of not much more than 2,000 fans.
He was very much out of favour under then Blackpool boss Simon Grayson when Lowe watched Hardie play in a development squad match against Fleetwood Town.
The striker netted twice in that game, Lowe soon made the move to sign him on loan for Argyle and now, 199 appearances and 62 goals later, he has become one of the club's longest serving and popular players.
Hardie made a lot of his initial impact for the Pilgrims off he bench. He scored seven goals in five starts and eight substitute appearances up until the season was suspended in early March 2020, and later prematurely ended, due to the Covid pandemic.
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