TALKING POINTS

Chris Wade – @tufcchris

Chris looks ahead to the game at Plainmoor

COSTLY HOME DRAWS

In what is becoming a more and more curious season as each week passes, the home form of Torquay is starting to be problematic. Whilst unbeaten with 4 wins and 4 draws from 8 matches, the draws are starting to really hurt the surge for the top spot. Saturday’s latest Plainmoor stalemate against Tonbridge Angels showed that wins are not that straight forward to come by, and we need to work out a way to win some of these games if we are to maintain a strong push for the play-offs or more.

DIFFERENT WAYS OF WINNING

Several teams this season have come to Torquay and played out, but Saturday saw a real low block and ten men behind the ball. That is not easy to play against at any level but it provided too much to break down (don’t start me on the disallowed goal, it’s best for everyone). We had plenty of the ball and moved it around to try and drag them out of shape but they were disciplined and didn’t let it happen. We need to work on our movement and passing in between the midfield and attackers, as currently we are not clever enough to get the attacking players into situations to shoot from in and around the penalty area.

JEFFERS ADDITION

The addition of Keke Jeffers will add options to Paul Wotton’s team in a busy time of the season. The Stoke loanee looked lively in the ten minutes or so that he made his debut in at the weekend and will be considered for a starting place on Tuesday. Cody Cooke was clearly missed at the weekend, so expect to him to be immediately restored to the central striking role. But Jeffers looked mobile and able to run at people, so it’s exciting to see him develop over the coming weeks.

MIDFIELD CONUNDRUM (CONTINUED)

The role of the central midfield players has again been debated after the weekend. It was Dan Hayfield and Will Jenkins Davies on Saturday but they again weren’t able to impact the play that much. They had plenty of the ball and were pivotal in trying to move the opposition around, but we need to find a way of getting them into the attacking areas more. Both have history of scoring goals, as Hayfield has done twice this season. The two wide attackers of Mussa and Young should be in the team as they are the most dangerous in attacking areas. But the two wide players in forward areas are affecting how the midfield impact the game, although both worked hard in defensive areas.

THE OPPOSITION

Tuesday sees Maidstone United come to Plainmoor in what is an odd season for them so far. They made a terrible start and there was real talk of a management change. But they have recovered and arrive unbeaten in the last six games and with three wins within that run. They have been play off candidates in recent years and you would expect them to be so again this year come April. But as detailed above, the home form needs to feature more wins to get a real run going towards the top. It will be interesting to see Tuesday is the start of that.