Cup has been good to Atkins
Ian Atkins will have to settle for experience and muscle tonight, selecting from a squad close to being at the bare bones stage. The Gulls have no youth or reserve teams and a squad that numbers just 19.
Ian Atkins will have to settle for experience and muscle tonight, selecting from a squad close to being at the bare bones stage. The Gulls have no youth or reserve teams and a squad that numbers just 19.
And with three of those injured it means Atkins has little room for manoeuvre.
Left-back Steve Reed is out with a broken ankle, midfielder Matt Hewlett has a long-term back problem and skipper Craig Taylor (back) are all out, although the latter is close to a recall.
Atkins has had to mix and match with what he's got, and that means playing striker Lee Thorpe, who was on loan at Peterborough last season, at centre-half alongside Steve Woods.
You may also want to watch:
Lee Andrews starts at right-back and Stevland Angus, usually a central defender, starts at left-back. Behind them is Nathan Abbey, the much-travelled goalkeeper and brother of former Norwich striker Zema.
Atkins prefers 4-4-2 and fields Lee Mansell on the right, Martin Phillips on the left and a central midfield pairing of Kevin Hill and Darren Garner.
Most Read
- 1 Man in 20s drowned in Bawsey Country Park lake
- 2 Amazing photos show storms over Norfolk – and there are more to come
- 3 Elderly man took his clothes off at Norwich park
- 4 Man, 20, who drowned at Bawsey Pits is named
- 5 'I can't carry it' - Shock as plant starts growing eight inches a day
- 6 Cat food brands recalled over link to fatal disease
- 7 School shut after ceiling tile falls on to class of children
- 8 See inside the 'tiny mobile homes' built from scratch for £95,000
- 9 Two Norfolk villages named among most beautiful to visit in England
- 10 Tributes to popular Tesco worker with 'sparkling personality'
Experienced Micky Evans is up front, alongside Jamie Ward, and it's the ex-Plymouth front man who could be key. At 33 he may be past his best, but at six foot tall and a little over 13 stone, he could be an unsettling influence - and will be aided and abetted by Thorpe, who is another big strong lad, and the muscle of Garner.
One player who won't feature is full-back Joe Kendrick, who impressed on trial but then found too many complications with the contract that Torquay offered and refused to sign.
