TALKING POINTS

Dom Roman – @DomRoman

Dom discusses the key points

A NEW ERA

Jimmy Ball is here and he’s ready! The new manager comes with a strong recent track record at Totton, if he can keep progressing at Torquay and take us up at least one Division then it’ll prove to be a very good appointment indeed. His biggest challenge in the short term is making the team believe in themselves for these away games, something that Paul Wotton really struggled to work out. If he can take the pressure off and make them play with more freedom, then we could yet have a bumper end to the season. Promotion is still a possibility after all! The delay to the appointment has been frustrating, but at least we have scrapped out two wins to keep us firmly in the play-off mix. It felt like we could keep spiralling and losing games, but credit to Neil Warnock and Ronnie Jepson for getting the team to dig deep – thank you to both of them for their efforts.

THE LINE-UP

The line-up kind of picks itself at the moment, such is the lack of numbers in the squad! Sonny Fish pulled up towards the end of last Saturday’s game, but it doesn’t sound like it was anything major. Will Tizzard will miss this one due to suspension I believe (and Matt Worthington is still suspended), there is talk that Sam Dreyer could return earlier than expected – and that would be a big boost to everybody. Otherwise Kieran Wilson has moved to Truro on loan instead, but Matt Carson has returned from Weymouth. Matt will appreciate a clean slate under Jimmy Ball, and will hopefully be well motivated to make an impression if he’s called upon. There could well be one or two loan arrivals at some time today, so keep an eye out on the TUFC Socials.

MATT JAY

Last Saturday was one of Matt Jay’s best displays in a Torquay shirt for me. The diminutive attacker has often been on the periphery of games for United, finding it difficult to get involved and stamp his authority when we’ve needed it most. But against Chesham there was more emphasis on working the spaces behind the striker, and alongside Sonny Everton, Jay’s movement and ability on the ball came to the fore. He rarely wasted possession, helping to set up attacks and make us tick. I’d still like to see him in the box more, because he’s a lovely finisher when given the chance (as seen against Salisbury), but he could well be a key man in the last 8 games.

THE OPPOSITION

YouTuber millionaire KSI has made the headlines in recent weeks, arriving at Dagenham as a shareholder, and manager Lee Bradbury lost his job this week as the team struggled in the mid-table of the National League South. In steps Andy Carroll as interim manager, meaning this game is a hard one to call! The last two home games the team have played saw them lose to Totton and beat Dorking, so Jimmy Ball has recent knowledge of the Daggers and maybe he can gain the same result. Our Opposition Q&A contributor pinpointed midfielder Joe Haigh as a key man in midfield, but he did suffer an injury mid-week, and Andy Carroll will not be playing, which should make life easier for our often fragile defence.