All is not lost for Torquay United

A 2-2 draw at home to Eastbourne Borough will not go down in the annuls of Torquay United history as a great result but the response over the next few weeks will be decisive to the 2023-24 campaign at Plainmoor.

February already looks like the defining month for United, as they face eight league games in the space of just 25 days, and a win at Hereford in the FA Trophy on Saturday would condense that brutal schedule even further.

Every team, in every season, faces a fixture backlog at some point, and every team also must contend with an injury crisis.

The problem at Plainmoor is the frenzy of fixtures and troubles in the treatment room are in danger of coinciding. The pressure is on to deliver results, get players fit and add numbers to the squad.

If the Gulls can build some momentum, starting with the Hereford trip, the promotion push is still possible.

“At the end of the season, if we get the promotion we all want, we’ll all be happy,” said manager Gary Johnson. “It’s what we’re aiming for every day and I’m going to see the job out.

“I still feel, when we’re ready, we will pick up points in a lot of games. We’ve got to keep going and to keep improving the group.

“All is definitely not lost. It is a long old season and if we can pick up points from our games in hand, we will keep going. We talk honestly in the dressing room, tell them when they’ve done well and when they haven’t.

“We work on the things we need to improve.”

The last-gasp equaliser conceded at home to Eastbourne on Saturday was a painful blow to that objective of building momentum, as the Gulls dropped out of the play-off places in the National League South.

However, they do have a game in hand on most of the teams above them and, apart from runaway leaders Yeovil Town, every side above United is catchable with just a couple of results going the right way for the Gulls.

Before the manic February, United welcome bottom club Dover Athletic on January 20, travel to mid-table Chippenham Town three days later and finish the month with a pivotal trip to Worthing, who are currently fourth.

Win those games, and all is still possible.

“We will keep fighting and see how we go in the next few weeks,” added Johnson. “We’ll never get the two points back from Eastbourne and we’ll need to beat some of the teams who are going well as we head towards the end of the season. That’s where you get the two points back.

“I know we’ve dropped out of the play-offs but we’re on 25 games, most of the others are on 26 or 27. We’ve got a chance to make up the ground and we will keep going, trying to get the lads to bring out their best game, because their best game is good enough. We also need a solid group that is going to play more often together.”

If United are going to produce a promotion-winning run over the second half of the season, they will need their star performers to produce.

Dillon De Silva demonstrated he is up for the task with a superb equaliser against Eastbourne and, given he was unwell, it was an example of the spirit and quality the Gulls desperately need in the next few months.

“We felt Dillon has needed to be a bit more aggressive in attacking the goal and I’m pleased to say he’s responded well,” said Johnson. “He scored a good goal and looked dangerous for a while.

“He’s actually been ill for a week, including on the day of the game. We were going to change him but asked him to last the final few minutes.

“Right at the end, we had a couple of unfortunate injuries, where we’ve had to change things around.  We will assess the walking wounded and see how we are going into the Hereford game. Hopefully, we can get a bit better as a group and wait for a bigger squad to come in, which will be pretty soon.”