Jake Wannell set for Torquay United test before four-game ban

Centre-half Jake Wannell is poised to lead Torquay United out at Walton & Hersham on Saturday before starting an expected four-match suspension following his sending-off at AFC Totton in midweek.

Manager Jimmy Ball confirmed that Wannell, 32, will play against the Swans despite a second red card this season and a disciplinary record which is starting to become quite an issue since his summer move from Yeovil Town.

Five yellow and two red cards this term follow 15 cautions and one dismissal for the Glovers in 2025-2026.

But he remains United’s most experienced defender and a strong character in the dressing-room.

Fifteenth place in the National League South is not where anybody expected pre-season favourites Torquay to be after 13 games, and Ball admitted issues on a variety of fronts during his midweek press conference on Thursday.

But the biggest surely remains the scale and pace of change in playing personnel, for whatever reasons, since that Play-Off Final defeat at Hornchurch last May.

The current situation is a concern, on the pitch of course, but also because Saturday’s trip to the all-weather Elmbridge Sports Hub is the second of five successive away games (Totton, Walton, Hemel Hempstead, Horsham FA Trophy, Braintree).

The Gulls do not play at home again until November 24, on a Tuesday night against Chesham United, with all the cash-flow pressures that involves.

Ball referred to the level of resources which the board have committed to the present operation, and he even hinted at the dangers of over-stretching in pursuit of that elusive promotion back to the National League.

He also acknowledged the enduring passion and commitment of United’s support.

As ever, the gate at Walton will be swelled by several hundred Gulls fans, from South Devon and further afield, and another defeat to lowly opposition is not what they’re going to see.

Walton have had an eventful 12 months.

Having built the team which eventually won promotion from the Southern League Premier, manager Billy Rowley left for Yeovil last November and then tried to take several players with him.

Jakub Pietrzak took over, but the Swans recently appointed their fourth head coach, Portuguese- born Ruben Gaspar, in the space of a year after starting this season with seven successive defeats.

Gaspar has stepped up from the Swans’ reserves after previous spells working at QPR, Oxford United and Aldershot, and the US-based owners also have former AFC Wimbledon, Notts County and Woking manager Neal Ardley as their director of football.

The team has inevitably undergone quite a bit of change, even this season, although Gulls fans may remember pacy forward Junior Dixon from his days at Boreham Wood.

Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat to Salisbury left them with only one point from six home games, but they have actually picked up in recent weeks - W2 D2 L2.

Saturday’s referee is Callum Fisk from Stratford-upon-Avon.

Top of the bill elsewhere in the NLS this weekend is the meeting of new leaders Ebbsfleet, who deposed Maidstone on Tuesday night, and Truro (2nd) in Cornwall.

Tonbridge (5th) also host Salisbury (4th), while Maidstone (3rd) are at home to Slough and Dagenham (7th) entertain Maidenhead.