Ian Perkins (Page 34)

Brooklyn Genesini made his Yeovil Town debut in the 0-0 draw with Slough this afternoon and the Swindon loanee said signing for his hometown club felt right.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall about his move to Yeovil, the fullback said: “I didn’t take the route of Yeovil when I was younger. I went elsewhere, obviously went to Bournemouth, and obviously ended up in Swindon and then on loan here. I think everyone’s got their own journeys and obviously mine was different to maybe some lads, but  I’m back at my home club, which just feels comfortable, feels right. So, it’s so nice to be back and being able to perform for the crowd out there, which have travelled all this way, and hearing them for the whole 90 minutes. It really does feel like I’m back home, so I’m really enjoying it.

“It’s obviously a mad week, but being a footballer, that’s what we have to be ready for. I’ve been a football since I was God knows how young, probably 5-6, and through my whole career I’ve have to be have to be ready for late calls and anything like that. And when I got the call from Yeovil to come in train and then find out I was in the squad today. I wasn’t really a shock, I’m ready for it. I’ve come straight and gelled with all the lads and felt very comfortable to come straight into the team. It could have been hard out there, I could have come in yesterday and not really got to know anyone and it might have been such a welcoming team. But, honestly it feels like a family out there. When I was on the pitch I felt like I’ve been playing for months here.”

Genesini came straight into the side as the right wingback in a back five, and was given a busy afternoon. He said: “I don’t think I’ve defended that much in my life. A lot of 1v1s out there, but that’s what I’m there to do. I’ve got put into the team straight away. The gaffer is backing me and I need to perform for him and the fans and also my own team. What I’ve got to do is to graft and I’m a footballer, that is what I’m here to do.”

With Chelmsford picking up a 3-1 win against Bath City this afternoon, the gap at the top of National League South was slimmed to seven points (with a game in hand) and Genesini is looking forward to chipping in and helping the Glovers achieve promotion.

He said: “I knew what it was like when I got told that I was coming in. Being my hometown, I knew that anyway, so when I got the call, I was fully ready to come in and help the club get that promotion. And no matter what we do, even though we only got the one point today, but we were away from home, it was a hard battle out there, and I can’t fault the lads that are out there at all because they put 110% in throughout that whole entire game. Maybe the quality wasn’t there, but it was a hard surface to play on but let the lads really put 110%.”

Ahead of the visit of Welling United this weekend, Mark Cooper confirmed that Olly Thomas had returned to Huish Park after his injury.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah, Cooper said: “Olly Thomas is back. He’s back on the grass, his first day back training with us. We’re going to assess his fitness in terms of game time and whether he’s ready to take part.”

Whilst Thomas might not be ready for Saturday, Cooper said his side came out unscathed from two matches in 48 hours. “There was a handful of players that we couldn’t risk on Monday night, coming back from injury or data. They way we’ve looked at it we’ve got everybody through, no fresh injury concerns, we’ve got a point on the road and we’ve got everybody fresh going into Saturday.”

Last time the Glovers faced Welling, they were on the end of a 4-1 defeat and a Tristan Abrahams hattrick. Since then, there’s a been a bit of change at the Wings. Danny Bloor, the manager at the time, left at the end of January and was replaced by Rod Stringer. Since then, they’ve had some good results, including wins against Hampton & Richmond, Worthing and draws at Braintree and St Albans.

“I think they were nine unbeaten before the other night (1-0 loss at Farnborough) and they’ve played some big teams in that. So Rod, the manager, has gone in there and done remarkably well in a short space of time, they’ve added some players and they’ve been difficult to beat. So, we’re expecting, again, another tough game and like they’ve said it’s another free hit for them.”

With the back pages shouting about ‘five more wins’, Cooper stuck to message he has all season about the title hopes.

“We just concentrate on what we can affect, which is Saturday. If we get the right result on Saturday then we’re three points closer, that’s the only way you can look at it. And anybody who tells you different is kidding themselves in my opinion. Of course supporters are going to excited and carried away, and so they should, that’s what its about. But us, professionally, we have to just focus on Saturday and concentrate on getting three points.”

The manager provided an update on Jake Hyde and Rhys Murphy, indicating that we were more likely to see Murphy before the end of the season than Hyde who has “been at St Georges Park having some rehab work and they’ve added a couple of weeks on to his injury period of how long he’s going to be out.”