Argyle are bottom of League One having won just four games in the third tier since being relegated from the Championship last season.

The Pilgrims have been hampered by serious injuries to players such as Xavier Amaechi, Caleb Watts, Julio Pleguezuelo and most recently Bradley Ibrahim – who will not feature until the new year after an ankle injury sustained this week.

But some fans have been critical of the summer recruitment following a major turnover of players in the wake of their relegation.

Cleverley says the club already has plans to strengthen the squad when the January transfer window opens.

“Those conversations have already happened,” he added, before Saturday’s trip to relegation rivals Port Vale.

“We had a long meeting with the three of us and Paul Berne [Plymouth Argyle chief executive] last week about what January looks like, about our current injury situation, about what positions we need to strengthen in, what players may be starting to become a bit unsettled.

“Nothing about the summer because we realise that the situation and the improvement needs to be right now.

“We’re really ahead of the game on that, we have identified positions, players and now it’s all about going out there and seeing what the availability of those would look like.

“We’ve had real backing from Paul to go and do that, and it’s important that we do, but most importantly we’ve got a massive game on Saturday, so that is where all my focus is for the next 48 hours.”