Harry Lee could rejoin Plymouth Parkway on emergency loan

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Plymouth Parkway are hoping to call upon Exeter City goalkeeper Harry Lee for tomorrow’s FA Cup fourth qualifying round clash with National South side Worthing at Bolitho Park.
The 19-year-old shot-stopper enjoyed a successful loan period at the club under former boss Lee Hobbs during the 2022/23 season and with Parkway’s on-loan Cardiff City shot-stopper Ewan Griffiths away on international duty this weekend, McPhee is using his contacts at St James Park to ensure he has a quality goalkeeper for the big game.
“We are hoping to get a loan deal done for Harry as Ewan is away on international duty,” McPhee said.
“Harry has had a quiet start to the season, he has played the Under-21 games for Exeter and done really well there, but I think he really suits the way we play because we want to play out from the back.
“He is confident and capable with the ball at his feet, he can go short or long, he is a good size and a confident lad with great potential.
“He is a lad that I have known and worked with on and off for the last six or seven years and he lives just around the corner as well in Torquay. He is someone I trust to come in and help us in arguably the biggest game in the club’s history.”
Griffiths is with the Wales Under-19 squad during the international break and they face Italy in a double-header meaning he will miss tomorrow’s big game. McPhee has other injury issues as well, but given the magnitude of the game, they are expected to play through the pain barrier as the club seek to make further history.
This is the first time Parkway have reached the fourth and final qualifying stage of the competition and a win tomorrow would see them in the hat for the first round proper, where clubs from Leagues One and Two enter.
In the league, Parkway have struggled so far and are winless in nine games. But the magic of the FA Cup seems to be bringing the best out in them and everyone, it seems, is united in trying to bring further success to Bolitho Park.
“We have got some really great experienced players within the group and they naturally support the younger players,” McPhee said ahead of tomorrow’s game. “They know that they are really important to the younger players because we do have more younger players than experienced players within the group and they are very supportive and very understanding that they need to help them with certain experiences that they have come across in the game.
“Matt Wright helps out Dylan (Jones) a lot with his game and his mindset and it is the same with Shane (White) and (Ryan) Brett and players that are playing in their position. They are fantastic for us in that regard.
“We haven’t asked them to do it, but they are so desperate for the team to click into gear – in the league especially – and they have gone above and beyond their roles.
“As soon as the draw was made, both Ryan Brett and Matt Wright had sent me a team report on Worthing that they got from contacts, or a friends, which goes to show they are just desperate to find the ins and outs of our opposition, especially as we are trying to do our research and prepare for the game properly. But they went out and sourced the information that they want to share with the boys and I think it’s fantastic how much they want the team – not just themselves, but the whole team – to really come together and make the best of what we have got.
“We do have a relatively young squad, but we do have some real talent and real prospects within the group and the only way we can really develop them and move forward is if everyone is on the same page and supporting each other in the right way and I think that is why we have been able to overcome some of the tricky moments and disappointments this season with our results versus our performances this year – and why the group are so confident in the way that we play.”
Such opportunities rarely come around in football, which is why McPhee is keen for his players to not let this opportunity pass them by. It won’t be easy, Worthing are tenth in the National South standings, but in a one-off game in front of what is sure to be a bumper, boisterous and partisan crowd, anything can happen. Especially in the FA Cup.
“It is one of those where, in those moments, you have to try and be the very best you can be and we certainly have to be as a unit and that is going to be the big challenge for us on Saturday.
“They are a team that can really suffocate teams. They like to play out from the back, similarly to the way that we do, although they have a slightly different shape and tend to play 4-4-2, which you don’t tend to see a lot these days with modern formations, so we will have to work out where they have overloads and see where there dangers are.
“That may also give us the opportunity to play similarly with our shape out of possession and try and find the ball in certain areas of the pitch and counter in that part of the pitch. Part of our plan is to be difficult to play through, whilst finding areas where we can get through on goal, but we are fully confident in our style of play and that if we play at the right tempo, we will cause any teams problems, especially in non-league.
“The most important thing is making sure that we physically and mentally compete. We have that heart which we have shown in the last few weeks and desire to get around the pitch, make big tackles and blocks and going toe-to-toe with our opponents to win the physical battle and I think it will be a really good game.
Parkway are advising anyone keen on attending the game to book tickets online, if you can, at www.ppfc.co.uk. Admission prices have been set at £13 for adults, £11 concessions (over 65s), £8 for Under 16s (with a paying adult) and free for Under 10s (with a paying adult).

Harry Lee, Goalkeeper of Exeter City during the Pre Season Match between Weston Super Mare and Exeter City at The Optima Stadium on 12 July 2022. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK