Togetherness at Torquay United

'Honesty' and unity were the two themes of Torquay United manager Gary Johnson's weekly press conference on Thursday, and no one can accuse the Gulls of failing to hold their nerve with the club still bottom of the National League ahead of a daunting trip to leaders Notts County on Saturday (3pm).

Notts duo Kyle Cameron and Aaron Nemane are just two of the many players whom United have developed and then lost over the last couple of seasons, and Johnson touched on that well-trodden ground as he tried to put the club's current plight in perspective.

"You know me," Johnson said. "I've never had a go at our supporters as a whole, because they are fantastic.

"The biggest thing is being honest with everybody, and we have always tried to do that.

"Agents often want players to move on - they don't like players staying in one place for too long. That's football.

"It's happened to me quite a lot over the years. I've been at clubs where we have to develop players and help them to improve, and the ones who do well say 'Thank-you' and then move on.

"We're not in the business of doing that, we don't want to do that. But now we have to regroup, and we have to work very hard, which we are doing, to build again.

"There are players here on two-year deals, who we know will be decent players, especially when we've added a bit more experience, which we are trying to do at the moment."

Johnson also said: "We have got to be as one until it changes.

"But when we do come through it, we'll all have done it together - that's important."

There has been much sound and some fury from sections of United's support recently, especially on social media.

But, interestingly, when around 20 fans at United's latest 'Retro Gulls' meeting this week were asked for a hand-count on Johnson's position, there was a big majority in favour of him staying.

And this in the week that Westcountry rivals Yeovil Town sacked former Gulls captain and manager Chris Hargreaves less than six months after appointing him.

The Plainmoor rumour-mill has been spinning overtime over who Johnson might bring in to help the club over its current predicament.

The names of former United forward Ruari Keating, who has just helped Cork City to promotion back to the League of Ireland Premier Division, and Stockport County's utility forward Elliott Newby are among those doing the rounds.

Johnson hinted this week that new arrivals were on their way, and the Gulls certainly need something, if only to cope with daunting injury and suspension problems.

Head physio Regan Miles is working overtime, and a couple more knocks at Eastleigh (0-1) in midweek stretched the queue outside the medical room at Seale Hayne, where Kieron Evans, Corie Andrews, Dan Martin, Ben Wyatt and Ryan Hanson were already sidelined.

With centre-forward Aaron Jarvis also joining defender Ross Marshall on the 'banned' list this week, the prospect of taking on County with only young Stoke City loanee Will Goodwin as a striking option is worrying, to say the least.

No one inside the Gulls' camp will say so, and you wouldn't expect them to, but Saturday could be looked on as a bit of a 'free hit', with forthcoming home games against Aldershot Town (16th) next Tuesday and Dorking Wanderers (12th) on November 9 up ahead.