TALKING POINTS

Joe Uglow – @Joe_Ugs

Joe looks ahead to the game at Everyone’s Energy Kayte Lane Stadium

ROTATION OPPORTUNITY

I’m not expecting wholesale changes from Paul Wotton on Saturday but I do wonder if the match presents the opportunity to rotate a couple players and give some much needed game time to those who need it. 90 minutes for Omar Mussa (or even 70!) should be the aim and perhaps we may see Ollie Tomlinson for the first time this season, especially given how leggy Dean Moxey looked towards the end of last Saturday. Jadyn Crosbie must also be chomping at the bit for another start considering Bishop’s Cleeve are only one level above where he scored over 30 goals last season.

WHAT ARE WE LACKING?

It was refreshing to hear Paul Wotton on Tuesday night at the excellent ‘TorquayTalk Gulls Eye View Live’, list pace and wingers as the two areas where he felt we were lacking. As is becoming a very common occurrence with Paul, he sees what the fans are seeing and work is ongoing behind the scenes to bring in loanees who have pace and can play on the wing. Whilst this could be an ideal game to blood in any new arrivals, many parent clubs wont let their players play in the early stages of the cup, so we might need to wait a little longer to see any new arrivals.

SEYMOUR TO GET OFF THE MARK?

A promising match against Chippenham was followed by a low key performance at Welling for Ben, but Saturday presents a great opportunity for him to get his first goal of the season. He strikes me as the type of player who once he gets one, can go on a run of scoring goals, so here’s hoping for a goal in any shape or form on Saturday for Seymour.

THE LINE-UP

With Jay Foulston out for at least another week Dean Moxey will likely keep his place on the left side of the back three. Dan Hayfield tweaked his hamstring last week and so is expected to miss out, opening an opportunity for Omar Mussa alongside Larik Hasani, or Wotton may opt for the defensive solidity that Roddy Collins can bring. I’d hope that he goes for the more adventurous option and tries out the Hasani & Mussa combination, as he probably won’t get a better opportunity to do that this season. Upfront it will likely be a Cooke & Seymour/Ash combination but a decent amount of minutes for Jadyn Crosbie would be a bonus. With seven substitutes allowed on the bench in the FA Cup we won’t be short of options off the bench!

TUFC STATS LEADERS 24/25

THE OPPOSITION

The Mitres are enjoying a good start to the season having won six, drawn once and lost twice in all competitions. They are billing this match as the biggest in their history and you can see why given their average attendance this season has hovered around 85; well over 1000 are expected on Saturday and hopefully it’s an enjoyable day out for both home and away fans, with United ending up in the hat for Monday afternoon’s draw. Bishop’s Cleeve are no mugs however, and In Jay Malshanskyj they have a striker who has shown he knows where the net is, notching six goals so far this season, Matt Bower in defence is a former Cheltenham Town youth graduate who featured for the Weston-Super-Mare side that we drew 2-2 with on ‘Bin-gate’ night!