Howe upbeat about Gulls prospects

Rene Howe is confident his Torquay team-mates can turn around their 2-0 deficit when they host Cheltenham on Thursday evening.

The Gulls will be without their Player of the Year and leading scorer after the striker limped off after just 21 minutes of Sunday's first leg play-off encounter nursing a hamstring injury, having initially shrugged off a groin problem to start. "I will always back the lads," Howe told Torquay's official website. "We have a great team spirit. Even when we went eight games without a win, we kept our spirit and went on an amazing run. "We are not scared of Cheltenham and I can see no reason why we can't do it. We will go into the game and take it to them. "Hopefully the lads can win 3-0 and I will come back for the final." Crewe will face the winner of the tie in the League Two play-off final after a 3-2 aggregate victory over Southend, following a 2-2 draw at Roots Hall on Wednesday night.