Gary Owers: Torquay United manager facing 'uncertainty' over loan signings

Gary Owers has brought in five loanees since taking over in mid-September

Torquay United manager Gary Owers says he is entering a period of uncertainty around his squad, as he juggles the side's remaining loan options.

Owers has six short-term and three long-term loans left as he tries to build a squad the can get his side away from the National League drop zone.

"Within two weeks I could lose four or five of the squad, so I have to decide who I may want to keep," he said.

"It's a bit of a game of chess at the minute," Owers told BBC Sport.

"There is an element of uncertainty because I can't tell you for sure what my squad's going to look like at the start of January and that's something that I'm trying to solve now."

Torquay have already made 10 loan signings this season and have seven still on the books - Jamie Reid's temporary move became permanent in October, while Dan Lavercombe and Jordan Lee have returned to their parent clubs.

Owers says he has been hit in his plans to bring in new players by the size of the squad he inherited when he took over as Gulls boss in September:

"If I was coming in on day one I'd go with a squad of 18 outfield players and two goalkeepers and try to spend more money on less players," he continued.

"When I arrived I had a squad of 27, so that's what I've been dealt with and that's what I'm trying to sort out now.

"I am really looking at it at the minute and thinking about how we move forward.

"If I take a certain amount of loans in and I lose them all before the end of the season, in the later months we could be four or five down again and scraping through and I don't want to do that."