Torquay United:
Ins: Joe Oastler (QPR), Chris McPhee (Kidderminster Harriers), Daniel Leadbitter (Newcastle United), Bobby Olejinik (Falkirk), Brian Saah (Cambridge United), Rene Howe (Peterborough United), Martin Rice (Truro City), Ian Morris (Scunthorpe United), Taiwo Atieno (Unattached)
Outs: Scott Bevan (Bristol Rovers), Guy Branston (Bradford City), Danny Potter (Newport County), Chris Zebroski (Bristol Rovers)
Following last season's Play-Off final defeat at the hands of Stevenage and Paul Buckle's departure to Bristol Rovers, Torquay United manager Martin Ling has set about building a squad that is capable of challenging for promotion again.
Despite having to deal with the close season departures of influential central defender Guy Branston to Bradford City and Scott Bevan and last season's leading scorer Chris Zebroski who both followed Buckle to the Memorial Stadium, Ling has so far made what look to be a number of astute signings.
To replace Branston, Ling has brought in Brian Saah, who played under him at both Leyton Orient and Cambridge, who he has installed as club captain with Lee Mansell as team captain.
The void left by Bevan has been filled by former Austrian Under-21 Bobby Olejnik who moved to Plainmoor from former Scottish Premier League side Falkirk. Martin Rice will provide him with cover after returning to Plainmoor after a spell with Truro City.
Strikers Rene Howe and Taiwo Atieno have been drafted in boost the Gulls' forward line following the departure of Zebroski, to link up with Buckle at the Memorial Stadium, and return of loanees Gavin Tomlin and Jake Robinson.
Other new signings also include the permanent acquisition of former loan signing Joe Oastler from QPR, who looks to have made the right back spot his own after an impressive pre-season showing, Chris McPhee has returned to Plainmoor after spells in the Blue Square Premier with Ebbsfleet, Weymouth and Kidderminster and former Republic of Ireland Youth and Under-21 international Ian Morris was snapped up following his release from Scunthorpe United.
In Ling, the Gulls have a manager who knows what it takes to win promotion from League Two having led Leyton Orient to automatic promotion in 2006 and his teams also have a reputation of playing passing football.
He has inherited a strong defensive base which includes Chris Robertson, Mark Ellis and Kevin Nicholson as well as Northern Ireland Under-21 midfielder Eunan O'Kane, who is one of the most exciting young players in the division.
If he could find a partnership between Billy Kee, who is also a Northern Ireland Under-21 player, and either of his new signings Rene Howe or Taiwo Atieno, who has been capped by Kenya, then Torquay can be in the promotion race again in the 2011-12 campaign.
A win over Burton Albion would be an ideal start for Ling's new Gulls, which would set them up nicely for a meeting with a few familiar faces in their first away game of the league campaign against Paul Buckle's Bristol Rovers.
Player to Watch: Eunan O'Kane
Since his arrival at Plainmoor in January 2010 from Irish League side Coleraine, Eunan O'Kane has become one of the Gulls' most important players. Since then, Eunan has emerged as one of the most exciting talents to have appeared for Torquay in many years.
He created a small piece of history last November, when he became the first Gulls' player to score for one of the Home Nations when he found the net for Northern Ireland Under-21's against their Scottish counterparts in a friendly.