Courageous in defeat but a concerning injury list for Torquay United

The current injury list at Torquay United is almost as worrying as the recent dip in form that has seen the Gulls lose three out of their last four in the National League South.

United travelled to Worthing on Tuesday night without Callum Dolan, Jordan Young, Jordan Dyer, Ed James and Joe Hatch, but started the game full of positivity, clearly in the mood to right the wrongs of the weekend loss at Eastbourne.

Unfortunately, chances were spurned and the hosts were gifted an opening goal from a loose pass by goalkeeper James Hamon. Worthing went on to score twice more after the break and Matt Worthington’s late strike was scant consolation.

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Add to that more players joining the injury list and it is very rough spell for the Gulls, but manager Paul Wotton is taking comfort from a welcome return to home turf in the coming weeks.

“We started the game really courageously, front-footed and had multiple chances,” said Wotton. “We had lots of corners and lots of entries into their box, but the whole game hinges on Worthing’s first goal.

“We were really courageous but, of course, our execution could have been better. Their second goal was against the run of play as well.

“It’s obviously a really poor mistake and the game changes. We kept going all night but the squad is looking really threadbare with the injuries. Sonny Blu has a big gash on his ankle, Sam Dreyer came off with damage to his ankle ligaments and Louis Dennis came off with a gash on his calf.

“Compared to Saturday, which I wasn’t happy with at all, the commitment and effort was there for all to see. The frustration is that if they’d done that in the second half on Saturday, we wouldn’t have lost the game.

“The players never gave up, the fans were with us the whole time but it’s blatantly obvious we’re having a tough time. Three defeats out of four, one point from 12 but we’ll come through it. We’ve got to stay strong as a group, stay together as a club and I’m very confident we will change our fortunes.

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“We need a home game, stick together and go again. It’s the toughest time since I’ve been here but tough times are built for tough people. There’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves, we just need to get back to Plainmoor after two monster trips.

“There are still 13 games to go, we have to stay positive and believe. We’ve got six home games in four weeks and the league can change very quickly.

“The fans were magnificent and you could see they appreciated the lads’ effort.”