Torquay United's striker shuffle for the 'tough' trip to Chesham

They say that timing can be everything, and Torquay United manager Paul Wotton will have to be pretty adept on that front to ease the Gulls over their latest injury hurdle.

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to mid-table Chesham United, Wotton confirmed that centre-forward Cody Cooke could be out of action for six weeks with a pelvic problem (writes Dave Thomas).

United do have young QPR forward Cian Dillon, 19, on loan for another three games, and he’s given glimpses of his promise at Salisbury (1-0) and home to Dagenham (0-0) of late.

But happily coming back into contention at last is a more like-for-like replacement for Cooke in the shape of summer signing Sonny Fish.

The big question for Wotton is when to push Fish, who’s in full training after a cartilage operation, back into first-team action.

Of Cooke, last season’s 20-goal leading scorer, Wotton said: “It’s a big loss.

“It feels like you’re just getting your head above water (on the injury front), and someone comes along and puts their foot on your head.”

Wotton stressed that Fish deserves credit for the way he’s handled himself and his recovery from surgery, adding: “He’s a player I’m excited about.”

But getting the 6ft 2in tall Londoner back to full fitness without a reserve team is, as always, difficult and Wotton said: “We’ve got to be careful with him.”

Get ready for a substitute appearance or two for the former Welling and Solihull centre-forward...

In these circumstances United are already thinking about asking QPR if they might extend Dillon’s loan after games against Chesham, home to Chippenham Town next Tuesday night and at Dorking Wanderers four days later.

Another plus is that right-back Denzel Akyeampong, who went off in the first half against Dagenham with a hamstring issue, has recovered and is available.

Chesham, where United scrambled a last-gasp 3-2 win against ten men last season before losing to them at Plainmoor, may ‘only’ be eleventh to United’s third at the moment, but Wotton is rightfully wary of the task at The Meadow.

“I’m expecting one of our toughest away games of the season,” he said.

“It’s a tough environment to play in there. I’ve managed against them several times, and they’ve added good quality this year.”

Chesham started the season with victories at Maidenhead and home to Farnborough, but they’ve won only one of their last nine games.

They’re usually spirited opponents at home, and one quality they’re not lacking these days is experience.

Former EFL striker Matt McClure, signed from Chippenham in the summer, Mitchell Weiss, Matt Lench, Connor Stevens and Giorgio Rasulo, to name a few, all know this territory well.

Several of Chesham’s players have also been with local rivals St Albans City, and there’s always the pacy threat of regular scorer Nathan Minhas in attack.

Saturday’s referee is Joe Dann-Pye from Kent.