Plymouth Argyle:
After their 3-0 home defeat to Accrington Stanley in their final home game of 2018, Plymouth Argyle find themselves second from bottom in League One heading into the festive season. However, there are reasons for optimism for Derek Adams' side.
Firstly the Pilgrims are only one point adrift from safety - Argyle are currently 23rd with 20 points, one fewer than Bradford City who have 21 and occupy 20th place - one above the relegation zone.
If the Pilgrims can get 30 points or more from their next 23 league fixtures, then that should be enough to see them retain their League One status.
Secondly Argyle's injury situation is rapidly improving as Ruben Lameiras recently returned from illness and he is set to be followed in returning to fitness by Scott Wootton, Niall Canavan and Conor Grant.
Adams oversaw an incredible turnaround in the second half of the Pilgrims' campaign last season, which saw Argyle eventually finish seventh in League One in the 2017-18 campaign - narrowly missing out on a play-off berth - and a similar revival is required in 2018-19.
Three points in their Boxing Day fixture against bottom side AFC Wimbledon would be a good start for them.
Exeter City:
It proved to be the end of an era at St James Park in 2018 as Paul Tisdale left the Grecians for MK Dons after 12 years at the helm. In addition to this, Steve Perryman also stood down from his role as Director of Football. Nevertheless Tisdale's successor, Matt Taylor, has made a success of stepping into his shoes and City find themselves on course to reach the League Two play-offs for the third time in three years (the Grecians have lost in the Wembley final to Blackpool and Coventry City in 2017 and 2018 respectively).
Whether they make it a hat-trick of play-off appearances, or go one better and win automatic promotion, could depend on their ability to retain the services of leading scorer Jayden Stockley, who netted a treble in their recent 3-2 away win over Oldham Athletic, when the January 2019 transfer window opens.
Yeovil Town:
Yeovil head into 2019 nervously looking over their shoulder at the relegation trap door between League Two and the National League. The Glovers are currently four points above Notts County, who occupy 23rd place in the table and need 27 points from their remaining 25 games.
Whilst many of the clubs in Yeovil's position have opted to change manager this season - Cheltenham Town, Cambridge United, Notts County (twice) and bottom side Macclesfield Town have all made managerial changes since the start of the current campaign - the Glovers have instead shown greater faith in Darren Way and awarded him with a two-year extension.
Promotion back to League One by the end of the 2020-21 season has been described as 'a key objective' by chairman John Fry, but that will sound like a hollow boast if the Glovers are allowed to slide back into non-league football, from which they won promotion from in 2002-03. Should the worst come to the worst, they will found the present National League a very different animal to the Nationwide Conference that they last played in nearly 16 years ago.
Torquay United:
Torquay United's 2018-19 season so far in the National League South could be best described as a 'tale of two Garys' - Owers and Johnson.
At the start of the season, Owers was entrusted with building a side that would see the Gulls win promotion from a level of football that they had not found themselves at since the 1926-27 campaign at the first attempt. Despite a promising start, United drew their opening game of the season against Chelmsford City and beat Bath City and East Thurrock without conceding a goal in the process.
Then it all started to unravel for the Gulls as defeats to Oxford City and Hampton and Richmond followed before Owers had a cup of coffee thrown on him after a goalless draw against Gloucester City, an incident that proved to be the beginning of the end for Owers.
The end eventually came following a 1-0 home defeat versus Chippenham Town and former Yeovil, Bristol City and Cheltenham Town manager Gary Johnson was quickly installed as his successor.
The Gulls have yet to lose a game under Johnson in the league, at the time of writing they are currently 12 games unbeaten - which includes six straight wins.
They have also won their first FA Cup matches for the first time since the 2011-12 season, as they reached the first round, and their first FA Trophy match since the 2015-16 season following a penalty shoot-out win over Basingstoke Town in their third qualifying round.
Johnson has also made good use of his connections with Bristol City, where his son Lee is currently manager, to loan Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Saikou Janneh in addition to Jake Andrews and Opi Edwards who had previously been signed by Owers.
As United head into 2019, the National League South title is well and truly within their sights.
