Torquay still a work in progress - Wotton

Paul Wotton admits his Torquay United side are still a ‘work in progress’ - but he was encouraged by what his saw in their 2-0 pre-season friendly defeat against Plymouth Argyle at Plainmoor.

After a goalless first half, Argyle edged ahead earlier after the restart through a Ryan Hardie penalty, before Bali Mumba added a second just before the hour mark.

Torquay, though, looked lively throughout and threatened on a number of occasions with a series of half chances, the best of which fell to new signing Cody Cooke.

Post-game, Wotton reflected on his side’s latest showing, saying: “Today was a step in class for us. They are a very good Championship side, four leagues higher than us, and you could see the way they moved the ball, the pace of their attacks, just what they can do.

“Overall, though, I thought we gave a really good account of ourselves. I thought we looked fit, we worked hard and we knew we would have to defend very, very well. Against Buckland and Tavistock we had a lot of the ball, whereas today we didn’t, but we knew what we were up against and it was important we got that work into them defensively.”

A stop-start first half - which included several medical stoppages in the stands - meant that neither side were able to get a firm grip on proceedings. However, Argyle were able to crank up the gears in the second period, eventually resulting in their two goals.

“People who know me, know I’m never happy, so the two goals we conceded were awful and could have been avoided,” added Wotton. “Today we were testing ourselves against top opposition, so there is still loads to work on.

“We’ve got a whole new team here, we’re still gelling together, and we have to do again on Tuesday against Exeter. That’s said, there were lots of positives again and very few negatives.

“As I’ve said, it’s a work in progress for us. The fundamentals of the game are there, which is great, and everything we’re doing in pre-season is set for a reason. It’s good that we’re having time to work in training because it’s important the players need to know how I want them to work.

“We’ve got a three-game week, which will have a few of in the course of the season, so we’ll use the whole squad and see how we go.”

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