Torquay United face difficult task to get the right player in
Torquay United manager Paul Wotton says “getting the right player in is difficult” after trying to fill the void left by Manny Ilesanmi’s return to Derby County with a hamstring injury.
The 20-year-old was only on a 28-day loan deal so is unlikely to return to Plainmoor now, and Wotton has been searching for another loan forward to fill that gap – but so far has found that tough.
Ilesanmi looked strong and up for it in a couple of substitution appearances before getting injured – but in the last two games Wotton has played Cody Cooke up front with a cast of supporting actors: Matt Jay, Jordan Young, Omar Mussa, Dylan Morgan – and on Saturday, Will Jenkins Davies, when he returned after his injury.
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Wotton said: “It’s a difficult market. There are lots of players that you enquire about and their parent clubs want to keep them in for the run-in, which is understandable. Getting the right player is very difficult. We are always looking but there is definitely no action at the moment.”
It was actually two defenders who scored the goals that won the game against Hornchurch, with Finley Craske netting in the 12th minute, and Matt Carson making it 2-0 in the 39th. It was a tough game though, with goalkeeper James Hamon saving a penalty and earning himself the man of the match award, before an 88th-minute goal by the visitors made it a scary last eight minutes.
Wotton said: “It’s a tough league, there are no givens. I don’t care what anyone says, we definitely have to deal with the Torquay Factor – people raise their game against us, it’s undoubted. So look, we know that every game we go into, the odds are against us. It’s tough.
“These are massive games. With 14 games to go, when you have given yourself a chance of possibly achieving something, every game from now on is going to be huge – as it is for about seven other clubs in the league. Away to Chelmsford is always tough and Weston-super-Mare are right in the race. We respect them both, and I say it every game, we are going to have to be at our best to get something out of them – definitely.”
Wotton reports that defender Jordan Dyer is improving, ahead of two away games at Chelmsford on Saturday and then Weston-super-Mare on Tuesday night.
“Hopefully Dyer is not a million miles away so we are getting a little bit healthier than we were definitely,” said Wotton.
Torquay were second in the National South table after Saturday but Eastbourne Borough could have gone above the Gulls on Tuesday night when there were six games played in the league.
