Handling the 'favourite' tag at Torquay United

Torquay United are in the middle of four successive home league and cup games, and midfielder Tom Lapslie says the Gulls’ form at Plainmoor can be the key to winning promotion this season.

Lapslie, who celebrated his 28th birthday this Thursday, scored in last weekend’s 5-0 FA Cup win over Hungerford Town, and he’s now looking forward to back-to-back home games against Maidstone United over the next two Saturdays plus a league visit from Welling United on October 21.

“Before the Cup draw, anyone at home was perfect, because our crowd makes such a difference to us,” said the former Colchester United player.

“It’s on us to start games we’ll, but when our fans see that we’re at it, they get right behind us.

“It can be very intimidating for other teams. We’ve even heard other managers complaining about referees being affected by our crowd.

“In every game, it feels like we’re favourites. We’ve just got to handle that.

“We’re not going to win every match – the big boys like Man City can’t do it, and we’ve got no right to think that we can.

“But playing at Plainmoor can be a big plus for us.”

Lapslie admitted a frustration that United aren’t higher than sixth in the National League South.

“We’d like to be top of the league, and that was our goal after ten games,” he said.

“We’re not quite there. Five crazy minutes at Hemel Hempstead (2-1 to 2-3) has cost us – it’s the difference from where we are to where we want to be.

“We’ve just got to limit our mistakes in those positions.”