Torquay United 'not giving up' in relegation fight - Gary Johnson

Brett McGavin's equaliser was just his second league goal of the season for Torquay United

Torquay United are "not giving up" in their fight against relegation, says manager Gary Johnson.

Brett McGavin's ninth-minute goal secured a 1-1 draw at Aldershot Town on Saturday as they remained third-from-bottom of the National League, three points from safety with 12 games left.

"I was proud of the boys because a lot of them have put in a lot of work over the last few weeks," said Johnson.

"I thought the energy and commitment they showed was fantastic."

He added to BBC Radio Devon: "They're showing that they're not giving up, there's nobody that doesn't want to be here, there's nobody that's not up for the fight.

"I thought we deserved to win, I thought we had a lot more chances than them, but at the end of the day I'm just disappointed with a draw as opposed to a win.

"I've picked them up because they were a bit disappointed, but I've said to them 'we're pleased with you'.

"All we've got to do is that vital thing of the key pass in and around the box because we got in there so many times and we didn't quite find the dangerman that could have then scored the goal."

Torquay's disappointment was compounded by the fact that none of the sides around them won on Saturday.

But Johnson feels his side has improved over the past few months and are capable of getting out of trouble.

"If you look at the last 10 or 12 games of the current form, we're ahead of most of the teams that we're challenging with down the bottom," he added.

"So in a way we don't know yet if that point's going to be important or if it was two points missed.

"We're still in the same position with Aldershot, they've still got some tough games, we've still got some tough games, so we'll have to wait to see how it all pans out."