Plymouth Argyle travel to Hull City on Saturday as the Tigers hope to retain their perfect league record.

Grant McCann’s side join Ipswich Town and Lincoln City in an elite trio of Sky Bet League One clubs who are yet to drop points.

Ryan Lowe’s promoted Pilgrims will be looking to do one better than their past two fixtures, which ended in draws.

Ryan Lowe will be without club captain Gary Sawyer, who is sidelined through an ankle injury.

Lewis Macleod is a doubt after a struggling performance against Shrewsbury Town before being pulled off in the first half. Lowe revealed that the player had suffered a knock in training earlier in the week.  

20-year-old centre-forward James Scott will not feature for the Tigers on Saturday after damaging his ankle last week against Northampton Town.

Hull attacker Mallik Wilks and captain Richie Smallwood are both doubts. Smallwood is recovering from an injury endured in Hull’s 5-1 defeat to West Ham in the Carabao Cup. Tom Eaves is back to full fitness and available for selection. The 28-year-old is yet to make a league appearance this season due to injury suffered at The Stadium of Light.

Argyle could hand a debut to new signing Jerome Opoku after defensive issues in recent games. Hull City could do the same with their latest signing Regan Slater who arrived on loan from Sheffield United this Wednesday.

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Argyle starlet Luke Jephcott returned to training this week along with midfielder Ben Reeves, and both players look set to be available for selection this Saturday. Will Aimson will be available for selection after completing his period of self-isolation, following a positive test for COVID-19.

  • Predicted lineups

Hull (4-2-3-1) Ingram; Emmanuel, Burke, de Wijs, Elder; Jones, Docherty; Lewis-Potter, Honeyman, Adelakun; Magennis.

Argyle (3-5-2) Cooper; Wootton, Canavan, Watts; Moore, Camara, Grant, Mayor, Cooper; Hardie, Jephcott.

  • Form guide

Both sides have started off well in their new division.

Hull, who were relegated from the Championship last campaign, have won their first three, scoring five and conceding none. A convincing 2-0 victory over Gillingham on the opening day followed with wins over Crewe Alexandrea and Northampton.

Carabao Cup wins against Sunderland and Leeds United saw them reach the last 16 of the competition where they went crashing out to a full-strength West Ham side.

Argyle, who bounced back into League One first time of asking, are also unbeaten in the division. The Pilgrims faced Blackpool on the opening day, where an early strike from Jephcott earnt Argyle maximum points. AFC Wimbledon came next and a 4-4 draw confirmed there was work to be done in the defence. Plymouth met Shrewsbury after, where goals from Josh Vela and Conor Grant earnt both sides a point.

  • Ones to watch

You wouldn’t blame members of the Green Army for questioning whether Conor Grant could replace Antoni Sarcevic in midfield, but the ex-Everton playmaker has had a flying start for the Pilgrims. Grant has found the back of the net twice, both curled efforts from outside the box, and earnt an assist from three appearances.

Grant’s midfield partner, Danny Mayor, is also a danger man for Argyle. The midfielder caused problems for League Two defenders in the past two seasons, now the talisman has returned to League One he’s not taking it for granted - putting in 10/10 performances.

For Hull, George Honeyman has proven his salt in League One. With an 80 percent goal participation so far, everything has gone through the number 10. Honeyman is coming off the back of a 2-0 victory where he scored and assisted for the Tigers.

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Matt Ingram has conceded one goal in 450 minutes of football this season, and that was against Premier League Leeds United. If Plymouth Argyle want to leave the KCOM Stadium with three points, then they need to work out how to penetrate the Tigers’ backline.

  • Previous meetings

The last time these two teams faced was back in 2008, a season where Argyle finished in the top half of the Championship while Hull placed third and went on to win the play-offs.

The Tigers, courtesy of a Dean Windass effort on the stroke of half time, came out 1-0 victors against Paul Sturrock’s Plymouth side containing current Pilgrims Luke McCormick and Gary Sawyer.

The two sides have crossed paths 74 times, with the earliest bout dating back to 1930. Argyle have won 23 times and lost on 32 occasions, with a further 19 matches ending in a draw.

This game has not been selected for TV coverage in the UK, though an iFollow match pass can be purchased for £10 on either club’s website.

Kick off at the KCOM Stadium is at 15:00 BST.

  • What has been said

Ryan Lowe spoke to the club this Thursday on the upcoming fixture.

“It is going to be a tough ask, probably the biggest test so far for us. Grant McCann is a fantastic young manager.

“We respect Hull massively, but we are going there to go toe to toe.

“We are going full of confidence. They are high on confidence too, I know they have not conceded a goal.

“It will be a big test for us, probably the biggest test we will face this season so far.”

Hull manager Grant McCann shone a light on the fact his side have come up against three promoted sides in the Tigers’ first four fixtures.

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Speaking to the club’s media department on Thursday, McCann said:

“They know how to win, they are another promoted team.

“We have had a tough start, we are facing teams that know how to win.

“We have a tough game against a team that is used to winning.

“We have got to be ready for that.”