Match fitness is the key question for Torquay United manager Paul Wotton

There’s fit in football and there’s match-fit, and Torquay United manager Paul Wotton must try to get that fine balance right as he welcomes back more of his players ahead of Saturday’s home game against Ebbsfleet United (3pm).

Winger Dylan Morgan and midfielders Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Callum Dolan have been missed through injury in recent weeks (writes Dave Thomas).

They have all trained with the rest of the squad this week, as has striker Louis Dennis, who didn’t make last Saturday’s FA Cup defeat at AFC Totton.

New centre-forward Sonny Fish is also due to start running again on Monday after his cartilage operation.

Dennis should be good to go against Ebbsfleet, but the dangers of pushing Morgan, Lo-Everton and Dolan back too soon are obvious.

Which brings next Tuesday’s Devon St Luke’s Bowl tie at Brixham AFC into play.

“Without a reserve side, it’s very difficult to get match-fit,” said Wotton.

“Last year at Buckland Athletic (Devon Bowl), we were very, very young, and that would have been the plan again.

“But this year the Bowl is great timing for the players coming back.”

Expect a stronger than usual Torquay team at Wall Park – and a full and more threatening subs’ bench against Ebbsfleet.

United go into the match in fourth place, thanks to their 100% home record, but it would be naive to expect the sort of fireworks which saw the Gulls open a 4-1 lead in barely half-an-hour against Slough Town here a fortnight ago.

“The league is getting better every year – it’s definitely better than it was last year,” Wotton said.

“Ebbsfleet haven’t scored many, but they haven’t conceded many either and, yes, they’re one of the promotion favourites.”

Relegated last season, Fleet have attracted as much publicity recently for their off-field issues than on it.

Since revealing that they lost £4.7 million in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons, taking their debts to £5.7 million, Fleet announced last month that their Kuwaiti owners had sold a majority shareholding to a group led by Dublin-based businessman John O’Leary.

It’s still awaiting Football Association and National League approval.

When you think that the Gulls were placed in administration for about £600,000, Ebbsfleet’s finances take some grasping.

However, those matters are for others to decide.

Fleet still put together an impressive squad in the summer, good enough to be rated as potential promotion candidates.

They duly started with successive wins over Dagenham, Chippenham and Chelmsford, before a run of five games without a win was followed by a 5-0 FA Cup victory at home to Ashford United last weekend.

They have assembled a pretty useful group of forwards, including ex-Halifax and AFC Wimbledon centre-forward Aaron Cosgrave, Josh Coley (Maidenhead, Exeter, Sutton), Dominic Samuel (Blackburn, Gillingham, Ross Co) and Kwesi Appiah, who scored 24 goals for Boreham Wood last season.

But it looks as if manager Josh Wright has been trying to build on tight defence first – just eight goals scored, but only seven conceded.

He has the men to do it as well, with been-there-done-it players like goalkeeper Mark Cousins, Josh Passley (Bromley, Dover), Ben Coker (Southend, Barnet), captain Max Ehmer (Gillingham) and ex-Tonbridge duo Jamie Fielding and former Torquay loanee Ronny Nelson.

Toby Edser (Aldershot) and 400-game George Moncur (Luton, Barnsley, Leyton Orient) supply the know-how in midfield.

Saturday’s referee is Matthew Norton from Waltham Cross (Herts).