Torquay United must improve on Weston damp squib

Manager Gary Johnson ponders move into loan market

Torquay United travel to face in-form Hampton and Richmond on Saturday knowing their fans will demand better fare than they saw on a rainy Tuesday night at Weston-super-Mare.

The Gulls lost by the odd goal in five after a disappointing performance at Weston, and manager Gary Johnson left the field with the jeers of angry fans ringing in his ears.

More than 800 United fans made the trip for the game, and the Gulls will be cheered on by a sizeable support again in London despite the Somerset setback.

“I understand the fans’ frustration,” said Johnson. “I’d be feeling exactly the same if I was a supporter, but those who make the effort to come give us the energy to get it right.

“Our fans really got going when we got the equaliser, only for the balloon to be burst when they got their penalty.”

Torquay have a fresh set of injury problems to contend with as they prepare to travel to Hampton and Richmond. Already without long-term casualties Kevin Dawson and Dillon De Silva, they added Dan Martin and Tom Lapslie to the treatment list before the trip to Weston super Mare.

Then in injury time at the Optima Stadium they lost top scorer Aaron Jarvis with a knee injury and defender Dean Moxey with a bad cut to his nose. Moxey will probably be fit to play on Saturday, but the others remain serious doubts.

It would not be a surprise to see Johnson dipping into the loan market to fill out his squad before Saturday’s game.

“We know we need another striker,” he said. “But we’ve got to find the right player at the right time for the right reasons.

“We don’t want to make a mistake and bring somebody in out of necessity rather than out of quality.

Hampton and Richmond have won their last four league games to propel them up to eighth in the National League South table, and could leapfrog Torquay if they beat them.

But, said Johnson, Torquay are not about to give up any ground.

“They are on a good run of form, but we are still sixth in the league and we’ve got a good group of players.

“We’ve had a good run, and we believe we can do that again.”