United head into stranger than usual territory on New Year’s Day when they face Truro City at Plainmoor as the away team.
As part of our groundshare with Truro City, it has time for the White Tigers to host United.
“I don’t think there’s anything too much that will make you feel inferior to it being a home game,” said Johnson at his morning’s press call. “The gate is theirs financially but it’s ours in support and that means a lot, of course.
“The groundsmen have worked very hard on the pitch. Both team know the pitch so both teams will see it as a home pitch.”
Keeping momentum is key according to Johnson. When other promotion rivals slip up, United need to take advantage.
“It just becomes another important game because teams are slipping up at the moment, a couple of teams. There’s a couple of teams still hanging on in there including us. We’ve got to make sure we’re not the ones that slip up at a vital time. It might not be vital right this minute but it’s vital that we keep winning games and wait for the opposition to lose a game. Then all of a sudden it puts you into a much stronger position.”
The festive period usually brings with it two games against the same opponent, it brings with it a different type of challenge according to the Gaffer.
“Tactically it brings bits and pieces in. There’ll know a lot about us; we’ll know a lot about them, of course. Both teams would have assessed in the last game the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. We’ll see how that turns out. They’re in a good vein of form like they were when they came to us last time. We’ll respect them and try and get, not just a result, but a performance.”
The Gaffer may have been a little harsh on the performance the team put in on Saturday. United came out 2-1 winners over Gloucester on the day and Johnson liked more about the way his team played after viewing the match video.
“When I look back at the video back, nothing’s ever as good as you think it is on the day, and nothing is as ever as bad as you think it is on the day. The last game was a game that wasn’t as bad as I felt. Although, we do need to improve our performance as a team, and as a team cohesion, and a team unity. I forgot to say there were a lot of good things in it as well. The boys are working very hard. We’ve got to work as a group, and as a team, and have more cohesion, even though they did have some, and some great bits of play.
“Fitness is not just physical, it’s mental. We’ve got to make sure that mentally we’re sharp, sharper than we were a couple of days ago. That mental sharpness is something that should put us ahead of most teams. We’ve got it, we’ve just got to use it. When we use that mental sharpness then there’s not that many teams that will match us.”
The Yellow Army has been backing the team in huge numbers at home and away and Johnson is well aware of how valuable their support has been.
“It’s been building since day one that I came. I think the togetherness of the people on the pitch and the people off the pitch is there to be seen at the moment. That’s massive, I’ve always said that. People are happy, everyone wants to say thank you for turning it around which is very nice. It’s still only over just over half the season – we’ve just got to keep being professional and make sure we don’t slip up in any way and make sure that we manoeuvre around these icebergs. I say that because this is the time of year that icebergs occur, not just because it’s winter because of contract talks, agents, and many other things. It’s just something we’ve got to be aware of.”
National League South | Truro City Vs Torquay United | 01/01/18 | Plainmoor | For more information on this match click here.