TALKING POINTS

Chris Wade

@tufcchris

Chris discusses the NLS game

LOOKING FOR A BIG 3 POINTS

After a desperate week for the whole club for a whole number of reasons, we return to the home of football in desperate need of three points to maintain the gap between us and the trap door. Whilst Aaron Downes has been very careful not to mention the R word since the ten point deduction last week, make no mistake we are facing a desperate battle against successive relegations into even further obscurity. The woeful last two results against Taunton and Tonbridge Angels have left us very vulnerable to the teams below us, some with significant games in hand.

DEFENSIVE HOLES

The way that we have defended in these two games has been incredibly poor and simply has to improve. As various TT correspondents have noted in the last few days, the use of three centre backs is doing us no favours at present. The open nature of our play and how we are playing out from the back works if you have players that are good enough to pull it off. But the distribution has been a massive issue and has led to cheap goals. Some of the positions that the back three ended up in last week defied belief, and the wide open holes were exploited. And that could happen again this weekend without being tighter, and without who has been the shield for many months, Brett McGavin due to suspension. The 66 goals conceded also highlights the continuous flaws all season.

LEWIS COLLINS

One of the biggest disappointments and sad parts of this season has been the lack of form of Lewis Collins. Joining from League Two Newport County in the summer, he felt like a significant addition at the time following a really lively loan spell at the end of last season. What has followed has been a series of ineffective and invisible displays. The frustrating part is that he clearly has talent and could be a real asset, which has led to even more frustration. One goal and a handful of assists isn’t good enough and he has become a peripheral figure in recent games. What you wouldn’t give for some of that quality to come out now?

THE OPPOSITION

The next two games are hardly what we need. Hampton are on a hot streak of form, only having their recent winning run ended by a 1-1 draw with Welling during the week. After a slow start, they have been the form side over recent months, with 19 wins and only 9 defeats this season. And they are one of a whole host of clubs to have beaten us on their home patch. They are showing great support by making some spaces available on their supporters coach to any Torquay fans that want to travel down, another example of how the football family has come together around us in recent weeks. Let’s hope that is where the generosity ends on Saturday.

DEVON UNITED DAY

The love shown to our club in the last month has blown us all away, and we see the next phase of that with Devon United Day at Plainmoor on Saturday. Fans of local rivalries Exeter City & Plymouth Argyle will join us and back us in our hour of need. The open atmosphere to the occasion is something for us all to look forward, and we all hope that it can pass without any rivalry bubbling to the surface again. So come along, buy a burger and a pint, a programme and scarf and roar us onto the three points.