Every Wednesday in the Herald Express, our Torquay United correspondent Richard Hughes takes a sideways look at what's going on in the world of the Gulls. This week, he looks at how Torquay need to find another striker to score goals

Whatever happened last night in Slough – a place I once accidentally rode to from London – there is one thing for certain: Torquay United need another forward to help get the ball into the back of the net.

Before last night, Torquay’s sole striker at the moment, Cody Cooke, had scored 11 goals – not a bad return for January. But his game is about more than scoring goals – and he even gave up a chance to add No 12 to his season when he handed Jordan Young the ball for that penalty at St Albans City.

READ MORE: Slough Town 2 Torquay United 2 - late drama as Gulls let lead slip and drop off top

READ MORE: Torquay United take encouragement into trip to Slough

But, had Torquay had an extra man up front, rather than one supplied by two on the wings, might they have secured three points rather than the one they did? I guess we will never know. As it was, St Albans defended well and got a bit of luck, with Cooke missing the target with a really good chance, and the ball bouncing three times on the crossbar as Dan Hayfield stood watching in wonder at his misfortune.

The history of St Albans is littered with stories of defensive heroism in the Wars of the Roses, Richard, Duke of York, and his mates fought their way through the city to defeat the royal army of Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. And few would have bet against another brave but eventual futile defence when Torquay came knocking on Saturday.

But this St Albans unit did what the Duke of Somerset couldn’t do in 1455, and held out against an increasing amount of pressure – with that little bit of luck. Jordan Young created chance after chance and missed some himself – but he is becoming a real asset, and might be one to consider for Player of the Season, if he keeps this up.

The 25-year-old was a live wire throughout the game and hopefully he was again last night. Paul Wotton said he was the best player on the pitch by a million miles. But, yes, we really do need someone else to help out the effort.

Brad Ash ended last season as the top goalscorer with 13 goals but hasn’t been able to crack it this time around. Wotton wanted a big-man-nippy-man combination, and also took a punt on Ben Seymour, 25, after he scored 15 goals for Hampton & Richmond Borough last season. But his one goal against St Albans at home last year wasn’t enough. He was clearly struggling to find the same form – and, like Ash, was sent out on loan.

Jaydn Crosbie scored lots of goals at Hellenic League level for Mangotsfield Town, but he is young, has a two-year contract, so will get his chance to impress Wotton on loan at Gloucester City in the Premier South of the Southern League first.

Having tried a few different things – playing Omar Mussa up front on his own in the Worthing FA Trophy defeat – Wotton does seem to have settled on Cooke up front, flanked by left-footer Jordan Young on the right and right-footer Dylan Morgan on the left. And despite the missing second goal in the siege of St Albans, that has been working OK.

And at the time of me writing this – before the game at Slough – we are top of the table and looking all right, thank you very much. There is no point in rushing into a move for another player that might end up out on loan.

I asked Wotton about this at last week’s press conference and he gave me his stock answer: “Always looking.” He continued: “We are always looking at every position. We signed four strikers in pre-season and three of them have gone out on loan now, for varying reasons.

“And what I would say is at this stage of the season, we have probably got more attacking players in the squad now. So we are short of options as in and out-and-out centre forward – and we are always looking – but then everyone in the land wants one. They are not easy to get.”

Finally, I guess you might have wondered how you end up in Slough accidently. It was a long time ago when I liked to ride the footpaths of London’s canals on my trusty Kona hybrid. Took a wrong turn somewhere, didn’t I. Chose the wrong arm of the Grand Union at Bridge 190b and moved seamlessly through the town’s outer reaches to conquer the Slough Basin undetected.

My match report from last night’s game will now be online, and let’s hope the Gulls were able to break through a Slough defence as easily – with or without a second striker!

Due to Herald Express deadlines, the column was written before Tuesday's game at Slough