Torquay Utd 'fully focused' on play-off bid - Ball

Jimmy Ball has won four, drawn one and lost one of his first six games as Torquay United manager [Shutterstock]

Torquay United boss Jimmy Ball says his side are "fully focused" on securing a National League South play-off place.

The third-placed Gulls know victory at home to sixth-placed Hemel Hempstead Town will secure them a top-seven finish.

Torquay are four points off leaders Worthing and four ahead of eighth-placed Maidenhead United in a congested race for the play-offs.

Should the Gulls secure second or third place, they would get a bye into the semi-finals and play either the sixth or seventh-placed side at home.

The Gulls, who had led the league in early February, slipped as low as sixth place after a seven-game winless run that cost manager Paul Wotton his job after getting just one point in the first five of those games.

But newly-appointed Ball, who has been helped by the return to fitness of a number of key players, has led Torquay to a five-game unbeaten run, winning their last four

"They're focused, fully motivated and just excited by it," Ball, 50, told BBC Radio Devon.

"Four or five weeks ago, this was a distant dream and we've just got our heads down, we've concentrated on us, we've kept our feet firmly on the ground and are just taking every game on its merit as it comes.

"We're not looking at 'what ifs' and 'if these beat these', it's a lot of wasted energy. Just concentrate on your next opponent, what's right in front of you, because if you take your eye off what's right in front of you, it trips you up.

"Let's look up and see where we are when it's all over."

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