When they lost 5-2 to Gillingham on October 15, Torquay United had played seven games at home, won only one of them and conceded 16 goals in the process.

In the seven matches they've played at Plainmoor since then, the Gulls have won six, lost none and, crucially, have let in only one goal.

No wonder manager Martin Ling is keen to keep his defence intact again when United take on Northampton Town in front of their own fans this afternoon.

The fitness of Joe Oastler has been the main concern since Ling's men edged out Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday night, but all the signs are that Oastler's "dead leg" has responded to treatment and he will be fit to play.

The former Portsmouth and Queen's Park Rangers youngster came to United on loan last season nominally as a midfield player, even though he looked every inch a budding right-back from his first few appearances. It was something that Ling confirmed soon after he took over.

"I watched Joe play for QPR, and he never played at right-back there, but when I asked Neil Warnock about him, he said he would be a decent right-back one day," Ling said. "Neil has been proven right.

"I do feel that Joe has got better. He's a lot better defensively, and he also gives us something when he goes forward.

"Trying to pick a better player over the last six games or so would be hard. It's important to keep the back-four together."

Victory for United today will see them close to within two points of the League Two leaders – Southend, Crawley and Cheltenham are separated only by goal-difference – and the fact that they'll have played a couple of games more than the top-three will be of minor concern.

There can't be a manager in the top half of the table who isn't raising an eyebrow at the storming run which Ling's side has put together – 32 points out of 39 before today – and if momentum means anything, then Torquay will have got it.

The boss is as sanguine as ever. "The expectation levels here have gone up ten-fold," he admitted. "But I'm not stupid enough to think that we are too far ahead of the game.

"I don't want to cry about money, because I don't think that's right. But other clubs up in contention will buy, and some clubs in trouble will buy, while our budget is spent, apart from a bit as a safety buffer.

"We have been on phenomenal form, but there's another 19 games to go, and managers are a bit more realistic than most other people. Things can and do go wrong, and it shouldn't surprise you, because it happens all the time. It will need a fair wind in terms of suspensions and injuries."

Today's game marks another Plainmoor return for Northampton striker Bayo Akinfenwa. The burly target man relaunched a faltering career on the back of a 16-goal season for United in League One in 2004-2005, and he's had a consistent scoring record since then with Swansea, Northampton twice and Gillingham.

It will be an interesting duel between Akinfenwa and whichever of United's two centre-backs, Mark Ellis or Chris Robertson, takes him. The Cobblers have won only one of their last 16 games, and new manager Aidy Boothroyd hasn't so far been able to turn them around. But Boothroyd has handled this sort of situation before, and he pointed up the importance of this match by making the trip to Plainmoor to watch United beat Dagenham.

Torquay United: Olejnik, Rice; Oastler, Robertson, Ellis, Nicholson, Lathrope, Morris, Mansell, O'Kane, Stevens, Howe, Atieno, Rowe-Turner, McPhee, Saah, Macklin, Leadbitter.