TALKING POINTS

Dom Roman – @DomRoman

Dom looks ahead to the Trophy game

THE TROPHY

It had to be Truro didn’t it?! I’m sure Paul Wotton would have been half expecting a Trophy draw against his former club and the White Tigers coming to Plainmoor certainly makes this a spicy looking game. Wotton will be desperate not to lose this one, with Truro currently above us in the league and some uncertain recent results, losing this one would be a kick in the teeth for a manager who is desperate to prove himself at Torquay. Any other draw and I think we’d have squad rotation and some changes to give squad players a chance, but it’s hard to see anything other than a full-strength line-up this weekend.

THE LINE-UP

One man who won’t be featuring is Finley Craske who has an injury that will keep him out for 4-6 weeks. Disappointing news for a player who had started to make a name for himself in the starting line-up. Looking around the team, the main decisions will be whether to include the likes of Ed Palmer, Keke Jeffers and Omar Mussa from the start, and Wotton doesn’t seem to know what his best team are. The Jeffers/Cooke combination could be a productive one upfront, but United have to find more creativity to get them involved. Meanwhile Mussa can impact a game, but a busy Truro City team will test his work rate defensively, so perhaps Lirak Hasani will get the nod again. A balance between a strong defence and a prosperous attack can be a difficult one to manage, and Paul is scratching around for answers at the moment.

WILL JENKINS DAVIES

One of our better performers on Tuesday night was Will Jenkins Davies, okay there wasn’t much to pick from, but the Argyle man looked more positive on the ball than his team mates, using a drop of the shoulder and a neat touch to beat his man on a few occasions. We need more of that kind of imagination on the pitch, something different to break open the defences and give us increased shooting opportunities. These games are on a knife edge this season, a touch of class is required.

THE OPPOSITION

When John Askey took over the managerial job at Truro City in the summer I did wonder if the White Tigers would have a good season, and so far they have done very well indeed. Askey is an experienced manager who has made them strong at the back (only 15 conceded in 17 games), and at the other end Tyler Harvey has been banging in goals for fun. Harvey is a player who has often been linked to the Gulls over the years and he will give United’s central defensive three plenty to think about, whilst Irish winger Jaze Kabia has 8 NLS goals to his name already. Elsewhere there is an ex-Gulls contingent of Dan Lavercombe, Ryan Law and Billy Palfrey. This is a Truro team to be reckoned with and the Gulls will need to be on form to reach the next round.