Torquay United travel to Solihull Moors today with fitness issues after three players left the pitch with injuries in the disappointing 3-1 home loss to Grimsby Town on Saturday.
Scorer Armani Little, forward Dan Holman and left-back Dean Moxey were all eliminated with punches or shots in the third home loss of the season, while Chiori Johnson persevered despite his injury.
Add to that the absence of Jake Andrews so far this season and Tom Lapslie’s knee injury that kept him from playing on Saturday, and Gary Johnson could have some serious selection issues ahead of tonight’s game.
Forward Olaf Koszela is in good shape to score goals on loan at Tiverton Town, while young midfielder Scott Piper has been loaned to Willand Rovers, and defender Louie Slough joined Bideford on loan last week. So the numbers are certainly tight.
Johnson has yet to dive into the loan market himself, but he may have now been tempted after saying last week that he then did not feel the need to rush into transactions.
Johnson was hoping to bring Sam Sherring back from Bournemouth for another year, but the defender ended up joining Accrington Stanley, on the League One side.
“Last year every once in a while we brought in someone when we needed them,” Johnson said. “We brought in some guys that hadn’t been proven and a few of them didn’t quite work.
“So we’re hoping to find what we need and hopefully get them to compete for a spot – and be ready and in our system if they’re selected.”
While Torquay have lost all three of their home games, their away form hasn’t been so bad with a 1-1 draw at Notts County and a 4-3 win at Maidenhead United.
Solihull’s start is no better than Torquay’s, however – they have only won one of their four games, and that was last Saturday when they beat Aldershot Town 2-1, a team that didn’t had not yet collected a point.
Manager Neal Ardley plans to follow up with another win, while Johnson is hoping the result is just a dawn.
