Torquay United wanting win at Bath which could secure safety

‘It’s great news that a preferred bidder has been selected,’ said torquay-united-fc>Torquay United’s interim manager Aaron Downes after the announcement from the club’s administrators that they now have a favoured buyer.

While fans wait to discover who the preferred bidder is, Michael Westcott and Torquay United Supporters’ Trust have confirmed it is not them. And, although a bid was believed to have been submitted by current director Mel Hayman and her father Ian, it is a third bid that seems to have interested the administrators more - and further talks are now happening behind closed doors.

But for Downes, nothing changes, ahead of Saturday’s all-important game at Bath City. If Torquay win there and other results go their way, Torquay could be safe from relegation with two games to go. Winning at Bath would mean Torquay would be on 51 points and definitely safe from finishing in the bottom four if there are defeats for Hemel Hempstead Town, Eastbourne Borough, Taunton Town and Dartford. The maths are brain-breaking - but it should be said that defeats for all of them is unlikely.

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So Downes’ thoughts will have been on the game at Bath, rather than off-the-field matters - but he did say at his Thursday press conference, having a preferred bidder was ‘great news’.

“For us, I have spoken to the players, and it’s about patience and respect. Having the patience that we might have a little bit of uncertainty for the next however-long, until it’s fully clear - and have respect for the process that they have got to undertake.

“There is due diligence that needs to happen and I am sure that when everything has been sorted out it will be announced and we are really looking forward to welcoming whoever it is to the football club - and then we’ll take it from there really.

“But in the meantime, it is about patience, respecting the outcome, and controlling what we can. My priority is making sure that I control the footballing environment and the behaviours in that environment. Making sure that we are motivated to win football matches.”

Bath can reach the play-offs this season so the game at Twerton Park won’t be easy, but with all the teams at the bottom avoiding each other in games this weekend, a win for Torquay and enough defeats elsewhere could mean Torquay will avoid the dreaded drop into the Southern League. With two games to go - away at Taunton Town on Tuesday night and home against Havant & Waterlooville on the final Saturday - this game then couldn’t be any more important.

There are injuries - Aaron Jarvis and Dan Martin are both recovering from knee problems and are definitely out, while midfielder Kevin Dawson probably won’t be available either. Everyone else is fit and ready to go, apart from Finlay Craske, who is out for the season, and defender Ross Marshall.

Marshall won’t play again this season after being sent off at Welling United. The defender is banned for four games because it was his second straight red card of the season. Under National South rules, he could have played on Tuesday night, when Torquay won 2-1 against Truro City at Gloucester - because bans in this league start seven days later. So his four-game ban starts now, and Marshall will have to sit out the first game of next season too, wherever he is then - Plainmoor or somewhere else.

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