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Tuesday, November 04, 2008, 09:26
Trainee Charran, from Barnstaple, has already made brief substitute appearances in United's last two matches — the 4-1 FA Cup win over Chipstead and Saturday's 2-0 BSP victory over Mansfield Town.
Manager Paul Buckle, who has included him again in tonight's squad, said: "At the moment, Jordan is the one who is catching my eye.
"With youngsters, you have to be very careful, but he looks to me like he's the most ready of the trainees.
"He's training with the first team, and he definitely comes into contention for this game."
Charran played several times for Barnstaple's Toolstation Western League Premier side when he was 16, but he's filled out since then, especially since he's been full-time with United's youth scheme.
He also qualifies under the rules of the Shield, which state that ten of the 16 players on the team sheet must have taken part in at least one of the club's two previous first-team matches.
Whether Charran actually starts against Weymouth is another matter, because Buckle has plenty of options among his senior players, especially in attack.
An obvious candidate is striker Matt Green, who is available after serving a three-match suspension.
Buckle already has defenders Chris Todd and Chris Robertson and winger Wayne Carlisle injured, and he will rest centre-forward Tim Sills tonight, because Sills is nursing a slight strain.
Green, Elliot Benyon, Danny Stevens, Steve Adams, Mark Ellis and Michael Brough will all want a chance to press their first-team claims.
With the best will in the world, the Shield is not the top priority for most clubs at this level.
One hopes that Weymouth, who have just announced plans to sell the Wessex Stadium in an effort to give them a more secure financial future, will not lose money on a match like tonight's. At least the Terras have been drawn against Torquay, instead of a smaller club with little or no away following at all.
And in terms of breaking new ground, it's the 15-game unbeaten club record in league competition which is currently uppermost in the minds of Buckle and his players, who have not tasted defeat in the BSP for ten matches.
But the Gulls' boss will still want to improve, at least, on last season's Shield effort, which saw them lose 2-0 away to St Albans at this stage.
"We are treating it with the utmost respect, and I am going to pick the strongest team which I think can win the game," he said.
Weymouth, managed by former Chelsea legend and ex-Swansea boss John Hollins, have had an up-and-down start to the season.
They opened with ten points out of 12, then went off the boil, but have now put together a run of four wins and only one defeat in their last seven league games.
On Saturday they did United a big favour by beating BSP leaders Kettering away 1-0.
The Terras did lose 2-1 at home AFC Hornchurch in the FA Cup during that improved spell, and the Dorset club will certainly want some sort of cup run to help make up for that disappointment.
Having staved off relegation last season, Hollins completely rebuilt his squad during the summer, making more than a dozen senior signings.
Among them are two ex-Torquay players, midfielder Stephen Reed from Cambridge and striker Chris McPhee from Ebbsfleet.
The Terras have goals in them, with McPhee and the pacy Michael Malcolm both on six so far and the talented Stuart Beavon on four.
The tie has scope for extra-time and penalties, if necessary, and the draw is regionalised right up to the semi-final stage.
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