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Match-winner Luke McCormick is loving life at Yeovil Town since his summer move from Bristol Rovers. The midfielder scored the only goal in the Glovers ‘hard graft’ against Woking this afternoon.

McCormick’s stoppage time winner in front of the Thatchers set off celebrations all around Huish and McCormick told BBC Somerset he’d thought about it on his way to the match.

“That’s what I was thinking about and on the drive up today. So, yeah, it’s brilliant. But I’ve got to give credit to the boys. We kept going. We could have sat off and taken a point, steadied the ship but we didn’t. It’s a little knock down from Wanns and yeah, just found the back of the net. I think probably I was that tired that I had to take a touch. And then obviously I’ve looked up and I’ve seen, seen the top bracket, yeah, luckily, it’s gone in.”

The Glovers struggled to get a foothold in the match in the first half and McCormick said that Interim Manager Richard Dryden just told them to stay calm.

“You get those games sometimes. They’re [Woking] obviously off the back of a really good result.  We grafted and we came in at half time. We tweaked a couple of things and then I think [in the] second half we were probably the best team. First half, they probably had the better the chances. But yeah, I think we showed, showed real resilience. And the three points is the main thing.”

McCormick has impressed in the middle of midfield in recent weeks having started further up the pitch at the start of the season, and the 26-year-old is loving life in green and white.

“I love the club. Love the boys, love the staff. Fans have been brilliant with me. I’ve settled in really quickly, playing in the position that I’m more comfortable with. Me and Brett have got a really good partnership and all credit to him, he’s been working his socks off. I feel like I’m getting a bit more of the plaudits at the moment, but his time will come. The team have been brilliant. The boys that haven’t played have been brilliant. Training is great. So, yeah, long may that continue.”

Luke McCormick in action for Yeovil Town.
Luke McCormick. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

New manager Danny Webb was unveiled to supporters before the match and was sat in the Directors’ box scribbling notes through out the match. McCormick said Webb had already put his ‘mark down’. He also praised Dryden and Chris Todd, adding that they deserved the win.

“So we’ve met the gaffer today, and he’s come in and had some words at the end there. So putting his mark down already, but Monday morning that that will obviously come to fruition more. Obviously Dryer and Toddy, have been excellent. Obviously, in limbo it’s tough for them. I think people should understand that it’s really difficult for them. So they’ve kept the ship moving in the right direction. Maybe we haven’t got results we deserved, but today, I think they deserved that.”

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Richard Dryden’s time as Interim Manager finished with an important three points and a confidence-boosting 1-0 win over Woking. Luke McCormick’s stoppage time winner took the roof off Huish Park as the new boss Danny Webb watched on.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins following the match, Dryden said the whole club needed the win: “We needed it, and the fans needed it, you know? I said earlier in the week, we need the backing from the fans how we play, but we need to give them something to sing about, shout about. I think, especially second half, from the first minute, we were on the front foot and had a right go. It was cagey, the first half, the second half, I thought we had the better chances.”

After a non-event of a first half, where Woking perhaps edged it, Yeovil came out in the second half and took the game to Woking with big chances for Josh Sims, Junior Morais, Morgan Williams and Tahvon Campell before McCormick clinched it.

“The first half was very tight. I think we started the second half really, really well. It goes on and goes on and goes on. You think ‘are we going to score?’ We have some good chances. We created a lot of good chances. We’ve got people in the right areas to get shots off or make contact in the box, but it was so nice to see the ball go in  the back of the net with four minutes left, that’s for certain.”

Luke McCormick in action for Yeovil Town.
Luke McCormick. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

On the goal, Dryden said: “They pressed him [McCormick] well coming out from the goal line. But he’s sort of clipped it into the top corner. [It] was great to see. And when I say four minutes left, it felt like 40 minutes, because it went on and on and on. But when you’re 1-0 up, and you know, they’re going to put big people on, get the ball forward, and we defended it pretty well.”

If it ended up 0-0, we played well. But, the 1-0 makes it 2,000,000% better. Yeah, Morgs has missed, but it’s a great contact on the ball. I haven’t got clue what he’s doing there, by the way, but he’s in there. And there’s been a couple of the little ones where we could have , you know, Sims has gone through with a bit of class. And there’s two or three others, you know, I think Tav was unlucky, because he’s through on goal. And I’m not going to knock referees or officials, but how none of the four [officials] see he’s getting tugged is a tough one.”

Aaron Jarvis and Tahvon Campbell made a big impact of the bench with Campbell causing all sorts of problems for his old club and Jarvis getting into his usual rough and tumble with the opposing defenders and Dryden said he’s had players knocking on the door this week angling for a start.

“I think it’s no secret we’ve, we’ve been training well with very few outfield people. I still get, even this week,  I’ve had a couple saying they want to play, disappointed they’re not starting. And a few of them have come on today and shoved it right up me, really, because they’ve come on and made a difference. The lads started really well and they’ve come on and finished it off.”

Dryden confirmed that Alex Whittle and Charlie Cooper had been in ‘very light training’ but gave to certainty on their returns. He added that the Glovers hope to be back to full bench soon with “maybe one or two coming in.”

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Jake Wannell leads Yeovil Town's players on to the pitch.

Yeovil skipper Jake Wannell said the defeat to Braintree was a tough one to take, but that he wouldn’t put it on the forward in the team.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins he said: “Yeah, tough one to take, obviously. After dominating the first half like we did, it was disappointing not to come away with a point, at least I feel like we had enough chances to win the game, [by] 2, 3, 4, [goals]. 

Ultimately, we win lose or draw as a team, so not going to push it on to the forwards at all. We’ve obviously conceded the goal, so we’ll look back at that and see where we could have done better there. Obviously, we know, the forwards know that we had plenty of chances to win the game, so we dust ourselves down and go again Monday.”

For the second match in a row, the Glovers conceded plenty of chances and Wannell put it down to the lack of the control of the ball.

“Too many turnovers, especially today, turnovers leads to chances most of the time, so we cut out the turnovers, the less chances that the opposition will have. But that’s full focus now on Monday.  We’ll put that one to the side.

“It could have been a 5-4, 5-5, type of game, which we didn’t want, almost a game of basketball, like, which is not us. We want to start controlling a bit more. That’s where we’re really good, but just didn’t work today.

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Mark Cooper cut a very frustrated figure following the Glovers 1-0 defeat at Braintree on Saturday. Yeovil fell to a 1-0 defeat, but had their chances to put away and the Yeovil boss put the pressure on his forwards to find the back of the net.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins, Cooper said: “It’s a game we should never, ever lose. We’ve got 15 really big chances, we don’t convert one. And they [Braintree] have a couple of chances in the first half, but it’s virtually impossible to lose that game with the amount of chances we had. I mean the first half. I mean we’re clean through on the goal, we’ve hit the goalie in the face, where we just need to to roll it in the goal, put one past the post, on the six yard line, and we’ve hit the cross bar, when it’s a roll into an empty net, and then the second half we’ve just missed multiple chances. We have to score.

“The pleasing thing is, we’ve created loads of chances. Had large spells of the game. Do we want to open up to create loads of chances? Then we leave a little bit open at the back, so it becomes end to end. But with that many chances, we have to score. Simple as that is, can’t dress it up any way. You have to score whether you’re a forward, midfield player, yeah, you’ve got score.”

When asked what it’s down to, and if Yeovil needed lady luck on their side, Cooper demanded ruthlessness in front of goal. 

“It’s not luck. You have to be ruthless.  When you get that chance, just put it in the back of the net. Take the back of the net out. We give the keeper a chance. We hit him in the face with a ball when the whole goal is gaping. You know we we have three chances at the end where our forwards kick each other and miss the ball, and it’s on the goal line. It’s it’s frustrating because the performance is good in terms of our attacking play. And the pleasing thing is, we create lots of chances, but we’ve got to be ruthless.”

Perkins offered a bit of praise for the performance of Tahvon Campbell, but Cooper shot back: “[It] Doesn’t matter about forwards being good. No one’s going to look in the paper tomorrow and go, ‘ooh he was good’. They can look and say ‘they didn’t score’. So I’m putting the pressure on the forwards, all of them. We’ve got enough of them. You have to score. It’s not like we’re asking you to play a style of football where you’re not getting [chances], you’re getting you’re getting loads of chances. We’re playing really attacking. Try to change a little bit. If we create that many chances in the game, we should score at least three goals, which should be enough to win a game of football. 

Ahead of the visit of Gateshead on Bank Holiday Monday, Cooper said he hoped to welcome back Whittle and Cooper and that his selection headache was having “to pick the right forwards that are going to score.”

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Mark Cooper was disappointed with Yeovil’s 2-1 loss to Sutton United this afternoon, saying the result gave him “clarity”.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins, the Yeovil boss said: “We’re obviously disappointed with the result. I thought we were in a good position to win it. Obviously 1-0 at half time. And then we conceded two goals. I think they had two efforts on target, and they both went.

“They had bits and pieces across the box, but I can’t remember, Aidan making any saves. So they have two. A header from 18 yards, and a shot from 25 yards. So yeah, we’re disappointed because we wanted to finish at home on a high. Just gives me a bit of clarity of where where we need to be.”

“It’s a game we shouldn’t lose, in my opinion, and we’ve conceded two speculative efforts and lost the game.”

Cooper added that Brett McGavin was back in training and could make an appearance on the final day at Aldershot.

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper insists his focus is on football matters, despite Martin Hellier’s departure as chairman at Huish Park earlier in the week.

Stuart Robins was announced as the chairman’s successor on an interim basis, and in turn confirmed that the Hellier Group will continue to invest while a successor is found.

Speaking to the BBC Somerset reporter Jack Killah, Cooper said: “I’ve got a great relationship with Stuart and a good relationship with Martin. I’m just concentrating on the football.

“Whatever that noise is, for us that’s just noise. We’ve got to concentrate on our football. We have to keep trying to win games, and the more games we win, the better proposition the club is for someone.”

The Glovers travel to Altrincham on Saturday off the back of two victories and two clean sheets, and will look to keep the good run going against a team who are winless in their last seven league games.

“The players have worked really hard. We look as though we’re on the front foot, we get around the pitch and have made it difficult for teams in the last two games, and we’ve got a couple of good results.

Harvey Greenslade celebrates his late, late winner in Saturday’s 1-0 home win over AFC Fylde. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

“We want that to continue on Saturday against a team that will be expecting to be in the play-offs. They’ve had a bit of a sticky run but it’s on the day so we’ve got to go and have a right go at them.

“They’re just in one of those moments, it’s just a tricky spell and that happens in a season. It’s impossible even for the top boys to go through the season without a hiccup and they’re in one of those moments.”

Yeovil’s previous two results have been all the more impressive as they’re missing some key players, although Cooper revealed some positive injury news.

“(Jake) Wannell joined in today for the first time, actual full training with the team. We’ll see how he goes. If he can get through that, then he’ll be involved in the weekend.

Jake Wannell in action.
Pic Gary Brown

“Morgan (Williams) is probably a little bit longer. And then obviously another big one is (Aaron) Jarvis, who I think will be touch and go for the rest of the season. If that is the case, we won’t take any risks with him.

“I’m not really sure on Jacob (Maddox). I think he’s just got a niggle in his foot and that comes down to pain threshold. Obviously he’s feeling it and he’s not able to train at the minute.”

On-loan centre-back pairing Kyle Ferguson and Frankie Terry have helped keep out Solihull Moors and AFC Fylde, drawing praise from the green and white faithful for their performances.

Thumbs up from Kyle Ferguson
Pic Gary Brown

“It’s really difficult for the young boys when they come in on loan because they have to earn the respect of the players who are already here. They’re replacing good players, but they’ve put their hand up to carry the flag forward and I’ve been really impressed with them.

“They’ve stood up to the challenge really well in really difficult times. Obviously Frankie came in a couple of weeks earlier than Kyle, but they’ve looked pretty solid together with the help of the goalkeeper and two experienced full-backs either side of them, Alex Whittle and Dom (Bernard).

“We’ve had to set the team up a bit differently to try and help them and give us a bit more solidity, but they’ve done great.”

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It was victory in Solihull for Yeovil Town this afternoon. Goals from Josh Sims (maybe?), Ciaran McGuckin and Alex Whittle lifted spirits following the departure of Frank Nouble earlier in the day. Mark Cooper spoke to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins following the match and here’s what he had to say.

Josh Perkins: Mark, it must be said, what a performance from your team.

Mark Cooper: The boys were fantastic. Followed on from a really spirited performance last Saturday. And you know, we asked them for the same endeavor, the same spirit, same commitment, and we showed that again today. And if you do that, you end up sometimes getting a little bit of luck. And we were worthy winners today. And yeah, it feels good.

Josh Perkins: I said on commentary that. I think especially away from home, that’s your best performance of the season. Would you agree?

Mark Cooper: We’ve won some, we’ve won quite a few games away from home, and we won at Wealdstone, we won at Fylde. We’ve won some entertaining games away from home. But in terms of that, we were never really in danger today. There was one at the end, that when you’re 3-0  it up you switch off a little bit. Apart from that, we were really comfortable, and our organisation was really good, and we looked solid. Compact.

Josh Perkins: The pick of three goals, really, is Alex Whittle’s. We’ll get to his. The first goal. Josh Sims will, will claim it, I’m sure goes down as an own goal. But just your thoughts on that Josh Sims/ own goal and Ciaran McGuckins goal as well, because that was taken well.

Yeovil Town celebrate Ciaran McGuckin’s goal.

Mark Cooper:  We’ve had to change the way we play because we haven’t got how we worked all preseason to play. We’ve got most of those players missing. So we’ve had to change to a 4-3-3, and that’s then about getting the ball to your wide players. And the work has been me screaming at the two wide players every time they get it to take people on. Simsy [Josh Sims], the last couple of games has been good. We’ve needed that from him, because he’s had a slow start for us, and I spoke to him about it, and he’s got so much ability. But, if he can keep that going and get better and better then we’ve got a real player there. But his goal was great, and then a great move for Ciaran’s goal. He needed that. Like I said to you before the game, if in January, Frank had gone and I’d have said we were bringing Ciaran in to replace Frank, everyone would have been cock-a-hoop, but because he’s had a stop-start time since he came back, it’s, ‘why have we done this? Why have we done that?’ So I’m really pleased for him. He got horrendous tackle in the first half, had to go off for that.

Josh Perkins: Good finish from him. And Alex Whittle, what a finish from him. I immediately saw him wheel away in celebration to the technical area and to you just talk me through that.

Mark Cooper: “The best clearance I’ve ever seen. I’m pleased. He’s a good character, and that’s a great finish for him. It’s one of them that either flies in or ends up on the runway at the airport down the road. But no, really pleased. I’m really pleased for fans. 240 proper fans, again, travel three hours, and they cheer the team on from start to finish. No negativity. And it’s really good. Maybe it’s a coincidence, when the fans get behind you, you can win a game.

Josh Perkins: Well, I noticed Khan as well, and his his reintroduction to Yeovil. I thought he played really well today.

Mark Cooper: Yeah, he’s a good footballer. Understands the game. He knows where to be, with the ball, without the ball, and, yeah, really pleased.

Josh Perkins: Just away from this game and in terms of injuries, I know you’re probably sick of hearing this, but any any closer to seeing the likes of McGavin and Wannell?

Mark Cooper: Brett McGavin, I don’t think we’ll play again this season. Horrendous tackle last Saturday against York. So Brett, that’s another key starter we’re missing, but we’re not allowed to mention that. Are we? One thing I have learned is that at Yeovil it doesn’t matter what you’ve got to be available. If you had eight under 12 players, you’d still be expected to win, and that’s the deal. So I’d just like to say thank you to the Chairman. He’s been steadfast in the support for players and staff. A proper Chairman, that’s what you need. He lets us get on with the job. He understands the situation we’re in.

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper spoke to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah ahead National League action against York City on Saturday. Here’s every word of the manager’s press conference.

JK: Mark, it’s been a while since you and I have had a sit down. A lot’s happened in the last 10 days or so. First of all, just reflecting on Tuesday night, what do you feel you learned about your team from from the defeat on Tuesday?

MC: I didn’t really learn anything that I didn’t know. I think anybody can see the team is hugely different to the team that we had when we were having our really good spell. But that’s football. We’ve ended up with some really young players in the team that are trying to make their way in the game, and they need support. You know, it’s a really difficult environment for them to come into, and they need support now. They need support from us. They need support from everybody. And, so I didn’t really learn anything I didn’t know.

JK: Was it quite a tricky conversation to have with the players afterwards? Was much said at all?

MC: No, they just need support. It’s clear as to the situation. And this is what happens. You get into a situation where you lose a whole load of players, and you try and put a new group together, and it takes a little bit of time, but and they need support.

JK: As I touched upon a moment ago, the last few days, a lot with regards to players as well, in terms of incomings, outgoings, start off with an update on Frank. Obviously, got the news before the last game that the plan was for him to go to Gateshead. That then fell through. How did that all come about? And what’s the latest on that situation now?

MC: It came about like I spoke about last weekend, Frank spoke to me and said, ‘Look, I’ve had an offer from Gateshead I want to go’, which I completely understand, because it’s securing his family, and a better deal than we could probably offer. And then I asked him if he could play at the weekend, which he did. And then Sunday, Monday, we tried to contact Gateshead as of Frank’s wishes to get the deal done, but we didn’t get any response.  As I mentioned, what’s happened in the end, is a person that’s trying to buy Gateshead has agreed a deal with Frank, but these people don’t yet own Gateshead and Gateshead can’t push the deal through with Frank, in case the deal doesn’t go through to take the club over. So it’s a mess, really. And I think when agents, or supposedly agents, get involved, it can become a mess. And the person that has been left is Frank.

JK: Will Frank be available for this Saturday. Is he involved with the squad? At the moment,

MC: I haven’t seen Frank yet, like I haven’t. I’m hoping that he’s in today. But, you know, it’s that’s that remains to be seen.

JK: We’ve touched on before, the amount of players that have gone out of the door, whether that buy it, be by it or out injured. At the moment, I think it’s eight in total. In the last few weeks, you had four come in. How happy Have you been with with the incomings this month, and they’re settling into the squad?

MC: Well, whenever you, and as a necessity you bring players in, it’s going to take a while for them to bed in. Now, people, of course, are going to say, why did you sign this player? Why did you sign that player? Why did you let this player go? Why did you let that player go? Sometimes we have to take into account the player in talking about their wishes. We can’t do anything about the injuries, but it’s just a moment in time. If you take Tottenham, for an example, looks as though they’re gonna have a really good season. They lost the core of their team straight through the middle. At our level it’s difficult to replace that. That isn’t an excuse. That’s just fact. So we have to then react by bringing bodies in. And you have to be honest that we’re not at the top of the food chain when it comes to recruiting players. So these players that we bring in are going to need a little bit of time. We’re hoping that at some point we get Wannell, Williams, Jarvis, Smith, Maddox, we get those kind of players back into the group.

JK: Are any of those players? I mean Jacob Maddox when we spoke previously, we’re hoping the short term injury. Are any of them any closer to being involved in first team action?

MC: I think the first one back will be probably maybe Michael Smith. There maybe Wannell, then maybe maybe Williams and Jarvis in that order.

JK: And we’re still talking weeks away in all those cases as well?

MC: They won’t be available for Saturday.

JK: With regards to York this season, obviously, having a very, very good season on the football side of it. What have you made of them and how difficult will they be on Saturday?

MC: Yeah, good football team. They’ve got good players. They’ve recruited heavily, and they’ve got money to burn, but they’ve recruited good players. The manager there, I think the recruitment that he’s done has been really good and tough team to play against. They’ll be disappointed that Barnet have got so far ahead of them, but they’ll want to cement their place in the top three to make sure if they are in the playoffs, they get a home tie.

JK: For some Yeovil fans, and I’d imagine other people involved in the game, there’ll be a bit of added spice, given that the former relationship between the now owner of York and Yeovil Town. Does that play into any anybody’s mind? Does that make any difference to what was going to happen on Saturday?

MC: Certainly not for me, it’s, I don’t have to explain that everyone knows what went on and listen people, people mature, people grow up. It is what it is. Seems to be the nature of football. 

JK: And I know from our conversations over the course season, you’re always looking at individuals to bring into the club. We’re now chatting on Thursday. Are you optimistic there may be another name through the door before, before play begins on Saturday?

MC: Yeah, ideally, we’d like to sign a couple of experienced players to help the group, because, like I said, it’s difficult to replace the boys that we’ve lost. And that’s not to say that the players we’ve brought in are just makeweights in their own rights. They’re really good players, they’re finding the way in the game, and if you put yourself in a young player’s position coming into the other night, and the atmosphere and the negativity, it’s a really difficult place. Now, of course, we’d love to bring in two experienced players wit physicality that can help us, but that’s a tough, tough job to get those kind of players at this stage of the season to come to Yeovil at the moment. All I’d say is the players need support. That’s all we’re going to be focusing on is, is supporting the players. 

JK: You talked about pressure on the players and supporting them. What about yourself? Do you feel the pressure at any times? How do you deal with pressure yourself?

MC: Of course, you feel, as a man, as a proud person, you feel pressure, and you don’t want to let people down, certainly the players. You just have to keep going. If you’d have said to us at the start of the season, if we could finish the top half, or near the top half or mid table, I think we’d have took that.  Now we have to make sure that we do that, finish that off, and we put things in place next year, loads of things in place, and the infrastructure that make things better.

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Marcel Lavinier made his debut for Yeovil today in the 1-0 defeat at Halifax. The fullback signed until the end of the season from Forest Green Rovers told BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins that he was happy join the club.

Asked how the move came about, Lavinier said: “I was away with Forest Green in York, because they’re playing York later today, and I was just in the hotel, and the gaffer [Steve Cotterill] said, we’ve had a chat with Yeovil about you. And I was happy and willing to come. It’s a big club, and, it’s good for me for the end of the season. So I’m happy to be here.”

Marcel Lavinier

Lavinier has barely kicked a ball in recent months and said his goals for the rest of the season were to ‘remain fit’. He added: “Keep performing and doing the best I can and trying to help the team. I strive high, and I want to push for playoffs if we can do it. So that’s how I will try and help the team.”

On the Yeovil performance in Yorkshire the right back said: “I thought the team done well in the first half – all game really. We dug, was on the front foot, w had chances in the first half, and the game’s different if you put those chances away. It was unlucky and unfortunate to concede an early goal and they just sat back for the rest of the first half and made it difficult for us. But, we still played around the box, still got a few chances, but on a different day we put them away and the game looks different.”

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Port Vale loanee James Plant has told BBC Radio Somerset’s Jack Killah he’s delighted to be fit again and back at Huish Park for the rest of the season, after securing a loan move from the League Two side until the end of the campaign.

Speaking ahead of the weekend’s game with Dagenham & Redbridge he said that he was just itching to get going…in the kitchen as much as on the pitch.

“I’m really happy to be back. Obviously, [I] got back in there with the lads and [I’m] just looking forward to a game now. Can’t come fast enough, really.

Speaking about the injury which cut his previous spell on loan in Somerset, Plant said: “It was just a hamstring injury. Obviously [they’re] quite common in football, but I was gutted. I ended up doing my rehab at Vale, just a five-week period of rehab, and then did a couple of weeks training with them. Then I just asked a question: ‘Can I go back to Yeovil’? And the answer was yes. So here I am!”

Plant returned to Huish Park on the EFL’s deadline day and is looking forward to getting more game time and being on the pitch more often than not.

“I just want to play, games. Here is the place that I’m doing that. It seemed like the best thing to do. [Port Vale] were really happy about it. I think that’s what they wanted as well.

“They just wanted me playing as many games as many games as possible. So it was a bit of a setback with the injury, but hopefully we can go again now to the end of the season.

“I just want to play every game from now to the end of the season. That’s my main target. I’ll look at individual games and how I want to perform in them games, but as a whole, I just want to play every game to the end of the season.”

James Plant puts a cross in. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Plant was adamant that despite a few changes to the squad there’s still a belief the club can be successful this campaign: “We’re all aiming for the same things. [There’s] a few new faces in there that I’m getting to know, which is always good, but, yeah, similar goals.

“I just think with football, anything can happen. We’ll take it one game at a time, but there’s a lot of games coming up, and we could be in a really good position after the next two or three weeks. So we’ll just work from game to game, try and be as solid as we can, and also try and get forward, get goals, and then you never know.”

Plant’s second Glovers debut will likely come at Dagenham on Saturday – a side he’s already faced this season with the club.

“They’re a decent side. I remember we played them here. It was one of my first games, and we played really well, but they still tested us. We came away 1-0, so we were buzzing. Hopefully we can go to that place and do the same.”

James Plant. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Finally, a new loan deal brings with it, challenges for any young player, it turns out that James Plant can still turn to his Mum to help with getting creative in the kitchen… there’s a joke here about Plant-based meals… or something, you can see where we’re going with this.

“It’s first time I’ve really had to move away for football. It’s part of the part of the job. So I think it’s good for me to experience it so young, and obviously it’ll help me in the future as well. My mum’s sending me like recipes down, because I’m quite boring with my food. I’ll just cook the same thing every night, just the standard stuff, but she says she said I should try and change it!”