The Gulls have recovered from a poor start to their second Blue Square Premier campaign by recording four consecutive wins ahead of their trip to north Wales.

Manager Paul Buckle must have feared the worst when his side registered just one win – against lowly Woking – in their opening seven matches, drawing twice and losing on four occasions.

Those four defeats came in the space of five matches, with Torquay taking just one point in that time from a possible 15 on offer.

But The Gulls have experienced a huge turnaround in fortunes by winning four matches in a row, with Buckle's side recording maximum points against Northwich Victoria (2-1), Cambridge (1-0), Eastbourne Borough (2-0) and Forest Green Rovers (2-1).

The mini-revival at Plainmoor has lifted Torquay up to 11th place in the table, just two points away from the play-offs.

Much is expected from Torquay after reaching the play-offs last term in their first year outside the Football League following relegation.

Torquay led 2-1 against local rivals Exeter City in the first leg but the Grecians won the return encounter 4-1 to progress to a Wembley final where they beat Cambridge to win promotion back to the league.

The Gulls made a strong start to the campaign and were the first team in the country to score 50 goals, a target they reached by the end of November.

They were on course for automatic promotion but began to fall away, and eventually finished third with Aldershot going straight up.

Although they never clinched promotion via the play-offs, Torquay also enjoyed a decent run in the FA Trophy but were eventually beaten 1-0 in the final by Ebbsfleet United.

Buckle has now got Torquay heading in the right direction this season and his side overcame the odds to record a 2-1 win at Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday.

Torquay lost goalkeeper Michael Poke, who is on a season-long loan from Southampton, early on to a thigh injury and with no shot-stopper on the substitutes' bench, striker Tim Sills had to go between with posts.

Rovers went ahead in first-half stoppage time but substitute Elliot Benyon levelled after the break for Torquay.

The Gulls were then given a let-off when Adriano Rigoglioso missed a penalty and in the third minute of stoppage time, Matthew Green fired home to complete their comeback and clinch all three points.

And Buckle was full of praise for his players: "The players were out on their feet, they have given everything," he said.

"It seemed at first as though everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

"Losing our goalkeeper and centre-half, and then effectively losing Tim Sills from the forward line wasn't ideal to say the least, and our game plan flew out of the window.

"We needed to improvise and the players were fantastic.

"We scored two top quality goals and the celebrations at the end from the players, staff and supporters told you how much it meant."

Buckle added: "I've never been involved in a game like that.

"The character has been there for all to see. I'm delighted for the people who scored and it just shows that if you work hard and keep believing you get rewards."

Torquay will be without first choice keeper Poke for tomorrow's clash, so Martin Rice has been recalled from his loan spell at Truro City.

The Gulls have a 24-hour recall on Rice, who is at Truro for the season, but Buckle is not sure how long the keeper will be back at Plainmoor.

"He's been keeping clean sheets at Truro and I'm confident he can come in and do the business," said Buckle.

"It's not great, it's a pulled muscle and it's a thigh muscle so it's massive to him with striking the ball," he said.

"The downside is we've lost Michael, but the upside is that Martin Rice is match fit."

Lee Mansell, Chris Todd, Steve Woods and Lee Hodges lined up in defence against Forest Green.

But centre-back Todd pulled a stomach muscle so Chris Robertson, who has been sidelined with a knee injury, is in line to return.

Roscoe D'Sane, Nicky Wroe, Chris Hargreaves and Mustapha Carayol should continue in midfield.

D'Sane joined from Accrington in January and signed a new one-year contract in May but he has been made available for a loan move to other clubs along with out of favour midfielder Michael Brough.

Brough was Buckle's first signing of the summer from Forest Green Rovers, but the 27-year-old has only played once this season.

Tyrone Thompson should continue in the hole behind lone striker Tim Sills who donned the goalkeeper gloves temporarily on Tuesday.