Ryan Hardie: Plymouth Argyle striker is 'different class', says boss Ryan Lowe

Plymouth Argyle boss Ryan Lowe has praised the contribution of forward Ryan Hardie after Saturday's 3-0 win at Shrewsbury Town.

The 24-year-old scored twice to take his tally to four goals for the season.

Hardie has struck up a good partnership with Wales Under-21 forward Luke Jephcott, who provided two assists for Hardie and later scored Argyle's third.

"He's been different class," Lowe said after the victory which put the Pilgrims eighth in League One.

"When he's running at defenders or goalkeepers he's immense and the work rate in him was fantastic."

Hardie scored six goals in 51 appearances last season, but the former Scotland Under-21 and Rangers forward is already two-thirds of the way to matching that tally after only five games this term.

Meanwhile, strike partner Jephcott, 21, has scored in each of Argyle's past four games and is the second-highest scorer in the third tier.

"They've got to score goals and work their socks off if they want to stay in the team and that's what they're doing," added Lowe.

"The partnership with those two has been fantastic - Jephcott got two assists and a goal today and Ryan got two goals and possibly could have had four.

"Ryan works his socks off, there'll be some good games, there'll be some games where he can't really get in the rhythm, that's just football, that's what he is and that's what the players are.

"But if he keeps working his socks off the way he does he's bound to score goals."