Match Preview: United must deliver on Devon Day

The Torquay United season has been littered with ‘must-win’ games and opportunities to ‘start a run of form’, but now is the time to deliver.

Fans from Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City will join the Yellow Army for a game billed as Devon Day, with the football community uniting in support of a club facing an administration crisis off the pitch and a relegation fight on it.

Promotion-chasing Hampton & Richmond stand in the way for United, who must quickly banish the memory of heavy defeats to Taunton and Tonbridge, the second of which saw three goals conceded in quick succession.

For United interim boss Aaron Downes, mindset will be massive for his players on Saturday, as they look to widen the three-point gap to the relegation zone.

“We had to make sure we didn’t have a hangover from the [Tonbridge] game,” he said. “We were very disappointed with the result and elements of the performance. We had a plan and that went out of the window for a 20-minute spell in the second half, when we looked all at sea.

“I was disappointed with certain elements of our shape and the reaction to transitions. We had a good amount of the ball possession-wise but the transition is where we came undone.

“We put a full stop to it on Monday morning and they’ve trained hard all week. They’ve put in the effort and now it’s important that they show up on Saturday because there will be a good crowd, a good occasion and one we’re grateful for.

“We will focus on the football and do our part.

“It is the time of season where you do get odd results, teams at the bottom beat teams at the top because people are fighting for different things at both ends of the table, and it means so much.

“When you are 12 games into a season, there is a bit more freedom, but now things are a lot tighter. It is the business end of the season and we’ve got to make sure we come out on top of competitive games.

“We have to make sure we are very hard to beat because there have been moments in the last two games where we’ve been too easy. If we do go 1-0 down, don’t concede more, and make sure we stay in the game.

“The players have freed themselves up, we will go into the game with a good mindset and with confidence because we know we can beat any team on any given day.

“It’s brilliant to label this Devon Day and the amount of support we’ve had from Plymouth and Exeter has been unbelievable. We thank them ever so much and I know they understand the bigger picture of our situation.

“They understand the importance of having three professional clubs in Devon and they want to keep that. I really appreciate the support, financially and in person. It is very exciting to have them along and we can hopefully get them on side early.

“Hampton & Richmond are a good side, a well organised and hardworking team. They have got some good players, we watched them draw at home to Welling on Tuesday night, so there’s nothing that will surprise us on the day.

“We understand the threats they might have but we also know we have threats and dangers. We have to accentuate those and make them worry about us.”