PLYMOUTH Argyle boss Ryan Lowe has described his Colchester United counterpart John McGreal as a 'fantastic young manager' ahead of tomorrow's League Two clash at Home Park.

Lowe already has plenty of experience of facing McGreal during his spell in charge of Bury and the Pilgrims manager has the utmost respect for his opposite number.

Lowe said: “He’s a good lad. I have known John for years, since I was a young boy and he was at Tranmere.

“I didn’t know him personally until a couple of years ago but he’s a fantastic young manager.

“He has done great there, with their philosophy and their style, bringing the lads through, giving them game-time and putting them on the map.

“They were one of the better teams last season for us (at Bury), coming up against them.

“They play some good football so we are in for a real test, we know that, but we are solely focused on ourselves.”

Lowe twice finished up on the winning side against Colchester last season, leading his former Bury side to 2-1 and 2-0 victories against the U's.

But the Pilgrims boss says last season's results are irrelevant in the context of this weekend's clash.

Lowe said: “It means nothing. It’s a fresh season, it’s a fresh start. Colchester have got a lot of new players, we are now at Argyle.

“It’s just another game of football that both teams are going to be looking to win.”

A crowd of up to 10,000 could flock to Home Park for the U's clash with Plymouth, with Lowe set to take charge of the hosts for the first time at the venue.

“We know we are going to have fantastic support but I’m looking forward to every game we play at Home Park because we want to make it a fortress," said Lowe.

“There is always another team standing in your way and we will respect that.

“But, as I said, I will always look forward to games at Home Park, especially when there is going to be potential sell-outs.”

Plymouth, who were relegated from League One last season, got the new campaign off to a winning start with a 3-0 victory at Crewe Alexandra, last weekend.

But Lowe said: “It’s just one game. We are not going to get carried away. We know it’s a work in progress and we know what we have got to do.

“Colchester are coming here, they are a good team. John McGreal is a fantastic manager.

“The Crewe Alexandra game is gone. We have been working all week to make sure we can do the same on Saturday, but it’s going to be a tough ask.

“If we can stick to what we are about, and what we do, then hopefully we can get points on the board.”

Plymouth have a fully fit squad apart from striker Calum Dyson, who continues to be ruled out by an ankle injury he first picked up last season.

Summer signing Will Aimson is training again after a pelvic problem which kept him out of all the pre-season games.

New signing Josh Grant is eligible to play after joining on loan from Chelsea Under-23s until January.