Press Conferences (Page 3)

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has taken aim at the disciplinary system describing it as “not fit for purpose” as suspensions continue to ravage the Glovers’ defence.

The boss will have defender Finn Cousin-Dawson available for Saturday’s trip to Woking after serving a one-man ban for his red card in last weekend’s 4-0 defeat at York City, but will still be without defenders Jake Wannell and Dom Bernard.

Speaking on Friday ahead of the trip to Surrey, Cooper revealed that the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body representing referees, had told the club Bernard’s red in the York defeat should only have been a yellow card, as an FA disciplinary panel upheld the decision to send the player off.

He told BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah: “Every manager will tell you they raised concerns about the system for a long period of time with the games being front loaded. We saw again (in the 1-0 home defeat to Barnet on) Wednesday night that the amount of times we have had players booked and the opposition haven’t is a lot! We had two players booked against Barnet and I still trying to work out what they were for. I can see that the players are a little bit hesitant to go in for any contact because they think they will get booked.

“Dom Bernard got sent off at York which we appealed, but the FA upheld the red card. That appeal is heard by three ex-players, no referees. On that panel were two centre halves from the 1980s that would have spent the majority of time kicking lumps out of centre forwards, but they chose to uphold the red card. At the end of every game I have to fill in a report on the referee, his performance, key incidents, and we get feedback from the PGMOL.

“The feedback came back from them to say Dom Bernard’s sending off should have been a yellow card, but the FA has upheld the red card! The whole system is not fit for purpose. We can’t change it, referees have a tough job but I just think they are struggling for the quality of referees. I think it is disrespectful that it is a full-time professional league and we have part-time referees, and until that changes I think you will get performances like we have recently. It is something the PGMOL needs to look at, it is not fair to the referees.”

Finn Cousin-Dawson will be available for the trip to Woking on Saturday. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

The defeat at home to Barnet on Wednesday saw the Glovers go 1-0 down to a goal from Yeovil-born Ryan Glover after just ten minutes of a first half performance the manager described as “passive.” A much improved second half display saw them pull level through Port Vale loanee James Plant before a Danny Collinge goal with seven minutes remaining saw the visitors take the three points.

Even after falling behind a second time, there was still time for refereeing drama as referee Andrew Humphries denied on loan defender Ed James a penalty after his leg was swept from underneath him inside the box with the final action of the match. That means Yeovil have picked up just two points for their nine games against the National League Premier’s top ten teams, with second-placed Forest Green Rovers the only team in the top ten they are yet to face.

Cooper said: “We have lost three games. If you take the Halifax game, one moment of unprofessionalism costs us the goal, but after that we should murder Halifax with a really good performance. The York game is a bit of an anomaly, we commit hara-kiri in the first ten minutes and we had two players sent off. Then the other night (against Barnet) it is another really tight game against the team which is top of the league, which we should get something out of.

“If we start talking about ripping everything up and doing something different because we have lost a game, the players will ask where the consistency is. The issue we have is the suspensions because on Wednesday night three of our front line defenders are suspended which is going to impact us for another couple of games because our left-sided defender (Jake Wannell) that starts so many attacks is going to miss the next two games.”

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

However, the manager is hoping to have captain Matt Worthington back to face Woking, having missed the last five matches with an ankle injury sustained in the goalless draw at Tamworth at the end of October.

He said: “We are hopeful Matt could be involved in the squad tomorrow, so that would be a good boost for us. We have to take in to account we played on Wednesday night, so there are one or two who may struggle to play Wednesday-Saturday. We will have a look this (Friday) morning and see who is fresh and see who we can put out there. We have some players who we have to look after if they play twice in that period of time that are injury risks, so we do not want to set them back six weeks or so.“

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper was a man of few words when he spoke to BBC Somerset reporter Jack Killah ahead of tonight’s home match with Barnet at Huish Park.

Here’s a summary of what he said…..

On the response to Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at York City….

“The game was over after ten minutes (following the dismissal of defender Finn Cousin-Dawson), you just have to wipe your mouth and get on with it. It’s just one of those things, you just have to move on to the next one.”

On the loan signing of defender Ed James on loan from Exeter City….

“We have known about him for a while. We have got a good relationship with Exeter and we had to act fast. He is really local so it worked out well.”

The formation for tonight..

“It is a back five. We are playing 3-4-3 like we usually do. Alex Whittle will play left-sided centre back of a back three.”

Tonight’s opponents Barnet…

“They are really good to watch, very expansive, very well-coached, I’m looking forward to it. They will finish in the top three.”

What do we need to do tonight?….

“Be aggressive, on the front foot, ask questions of them.”

Frank Nouble’s return to the starting XI….

“It’s not just Frank (that needs a goal), we have got three or four players in there that need to step up a little bit and I am sure Frank will tonight.“

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Yeovil boss Mark Cooper spoke to BBC Somerset’s commentator Chris Sykes following the 4-0 loss at York. The boss described the afternoon as ‘wasted’ and that he’d need to sign a couple of centre halves before the visit of Barnet on Wednesday. Here’s the transcript of the conversation. You can listen here at 38:50.

CS: A difficult afternoon. Mark. What your initial thoughts off the back of that?

MC: Yeah, the game’s over as a contest after 10 minutes with the sending off and then the goal – game’s over. So yeah, then it was just a long afternoon. We can’t make that mistake at the back, you know, we’ve got a centre half trying to Cruyff turn on the edge of his own box. Compounds it by getting sent off, and then they scored for the free kick. Game over. So it was an afternoon wasted. It was a trip wasted. Our chairman paid for us to stay in a lovely hotel last night. Supporters, 340, or whatever of them, traveled untold miles in horrendous weather and we played a 10 minute game, and the rest was just a waste.

CS: Is that kind of the point you’ve made to the players, after about fans making the trip?

MC: Our fans always make the trip. So we, we know we’ve got brilliant fan. I’m about more disappointed with the discipline and decision making of some in some key areas. You know, that’s two more defenders sent off today. We’ve already lost Jake Wannell. You know, the players know that we’re struggling for defenders, and then one of them gets sent off in the last minute with a ridiculous tackle, which probably is yellow, but referee can’t wait to send him off. But for me, that’s just ridiculous decision making.

CS: Ultimately, he’s put himself in that position when you’re whether it’s yellow or red. He still put himself in position when he didn’t need to?

MC: The ref was only gonna book green shirts today, he was never going to book reds. But he [Bernard] still shouldn’t put him, if he knows that as well, he shouldn’t put himself in that position. The game’s over. No point making that tackle. So the discipline is something that I have to address, because that’s too many now.

CS: The fact that it now has left you very short in defense ahead of, ahead of the next few matches.

MC: Yeah, we have to go and sign. We have to go and sign a couple of players, because we’ve only got Morgan Williams. He’s the only centre half. So yeah, we’ll have to go and sign a couple of centre halves before Wednesday.

CS: How frustrating is it for you as a manager when you when you know you’re in the situation, the team knows in situation without Jake Wannell, and then two more get sent off. How frustrating is that it’s

MC: It’s just the level we’re at. Players make more bad decisions than the level above that and level above that. When we have our best defensive unit on the pitch, we don’t concede. So when we don’t have that on we’re in trouble.

CS: In terms of the you obviously went one nil down, down to 10 men very early on. What did you make of your side and the reaction to that throughout the first half

MC: Yeah. But then we the goalie throws one in. Ollie’s been fantastic, but he had one of those games today which keepers do. You, he’s thrown the second one in, it’s definitely game over then, because you’re playing against a good team that’s possession based. I said at halftime to the players, I take 4-0 now, so we got away with it.

CS: And you know, another game against a tough opponent, again, Barnet, coming on Wednesday. You know, where does this kind of leave you?

MC: Good game for us. Good game. We know we have to be at it, otherwise we’ll get turned over. I’ve just asked the players now, like, they just need a bit of honesty, a little bit of humility. And people to put their hand up, and say I’ve let the club down today, and we need a response. So as a staff we”l certainly be doing that. I’ve just asked the players there, that we need a little bit of honesty after that game. And it’s not about, ‘well, it wasn’t me, it was somebody else’. Everybody’s got to have luck in the mirror today and say we need to be better than that.

CS: Is there kind of a feeling of obviously bad results there, but generally speaking, it’s just one?

MC: Not really no, because we wasted an opportunity last week to get three points. With this game in mind it put us in a real position to attack this game. And last Saturday has put us in the difficult position now where we’ve come to York and got beat and now we got to play at the top team in Barnet so players have to respond.

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has said that whilst he is disappointed to not have defender Jake Wannell’s red card overturned he has said that the team have enough to cover his absence for this weekend’s trip to high-flying York City.

Wannell was given his second red card of the season late in the 1-0 defeat at home to FC Halifax Town last weekend for an alleged stamp on visiting defender Will Smith. The Glovers provided video evidence which Cooper said after the incident he felt would vindicate his player, but the dismissal has been upheld.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah on Thursday ahead of the trip to York, Cooper confirmed centre-half Morgan Williams will be available after serving his own  ban. The boss also has  Dom Bernard following suspension, the former Forest Green Rovers player was on the bench last weekend.

“It doesn’t surprise me that [the appeal] was rejected, apparently the footage we supplied wasn’t clear enough, the linesman can see from 70 yards away that it was a stamp, but the panel can’t see clearly on the footage that there is no stamp, I mean, I can see there isn’t a stamp. 

“Jake just tries to release his leg, the lad has got hold of his leg, Jake tries to release it, not one of the Halifax players appeals, not one, and they’re five yards away and that’s always the biggest clue, if they appeal and not one person appealed. 

“So, yeah, they have gone on a linesman 70 yards away, I can see on the footage there’s no stamp, but the FA can’t. It’s four games, we can’t do anything about it, the FA Trophy counts as one but we’ve got Morgan Williams coming back in, we’ve got Dom Bernard as well, so we’re covered.”

Jake Wannell cannot believe his eyes. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Midfielder  Charlie Cooper is back in the fold after a one-match ban of his own. Combined with Matt Worthington’s return to full training means that only young midfielder Caleb Hughes, who is yet to appear since his arrival at Huish Park, remains on the physio’s table.

“You want as many good players, who are experienced at the level, you want as many of those available as you can. Losing Jake, it’s good that we’ve got Morgs coming in now and Charlie coming in gives us some competition in the middle.”

“[Worthington] is back in today with the group and we’ll see how he goes, Caleb Hughes picked up a hamstring injury last week and won’t be available for a while.”

Finn Cousin-Dawson Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

With the defence chopping and changing recently, one of the stand-out performers has been former Bradford City defender, Finn Cousin-Dawson. Cooper spoke of how he’s taken his time to get going, but is now in the swing of things at Huish Park.

“I’m not one for talking about individuals, because you’re setting someone up for a fall, all the players are playing really well. Finn had a difficult start, he’s come to a different part of the country, a different way of doing things, the way football is, you’re expected to hit the ground running and play in a new environment and be a ten out of ten [ed. we assume he means seven out of seven]. Sometimes it takes time, 

“Finn has started to find his feet and the way that we train, the way that we play, he knows exactly what he has to do in that back line and full credit to him.”

Looking ahead to the weekend, Mark Cooper said Saturday’s clash with York has the potential to be two similar styles and two entertaining sides going head to head. 

“[They’re a] Good team, very well coached. Adam (Hinshelwood, the York City manager) and his team, you can tell have been left to get on with just coaching the team and they’ve put their own stamp on it and brought their own players in, how they work – they want the ball all of the time, they’re good. Exactly like we do, we want the ball, so hopefully it’s a really good game of football.

“We don’t want it to be end-to-end, we want it all at one end, but there’s two parts to football, you have to be really good when you don’t have the ball and have to be really good when you do have the ball.  It’s got the makings of a good game.”

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has said the club will appeal against the red card which saw defender Jake Wannell dismissed late in a 1-0 home defeat to FC Halifax Town today.

The Glovers boss was confident the decision would be rescinded on appeal following an off-the-ball incident where visiting defender Will Smith accused Wannell of stamping on him.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah after the game, Cooper said: “The linesman on the dug-out side of the pitch is 70 yards away, but he tells the referee he has seen a stamp and the referee is ten yards away. 70 yards away, through bodies and the linesman says he has seen a clear stamp. If he can see that from 70 yards away, he should be in the military as a sniper, not a linesman.

“I have seen it back, the Halifax player grabs Jake Wannell’s leg and he has nowhere to put his foot, Wannell turns round to run away and takes a natural step. It will be rescinded on Monday, it was never a stamp.”

The game was settled by a strike from the edge of the box from the visitors’ Florent Hoti after 57 minutes prompting the manager in to a double substitution with Michael Smith and Josh Sims both coming on nine minutes after going behind.

That led to a strong last half-an-hour from Yeovil which saw Sims twice go close and Pedro Borges force a fine stop out of Sam Johnson in the Halifax goal.

Cooper said he believed striker Aaron Jarvis was denied “a blatant penalty” during one of the periods of pressure, but said his side were too slow with the ball until the changes were made.

He said: “We did not move the ball quick enough at the back, our centre halves did not move forward with the ball, they were too happy to not take a risk with it which allowed them to get bodies back. We were a bit negative with our press in the first half, we let them bring the ball to the halfway line which was not the plan.

“We had to make some changes and the boys that came on were very good. The effort was terrific, we created loads of chances, the only problem is that on too many occasions this season we have not been ruthless enough to finish the game off. Even with ten men we should score.”

The result saw Yeovil slip out of the National League Premier Division play-off places as Halifax leap-frogged them in to seventh place. The Glovers travel to league leaders York City next weekend.

Cooper said: “That will be a totally different game, York will try and be on the front foot. That means there will be more space, it is chalk and cheese. Halifax have done a good job on us today, they were really organised, got bodies behind the ball and a cheap goal from our point of view. We just have to make sure we are quicker with the ball.“

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper wants striker Aaron Jarvis to continue his run of impressive goal-scoring form as he returns to the starting line-up against FC Halifax Town today.

The former Torquay United striker is one of two changes to the side which won 1-0 away at Southend United seven days ago with Brett McGavin, who was on the bench in Essex, replacing the suspended Charlie Cooper in midfield.

Jarvis has got three goals in his last three matches including a double last time out at Huish Park when Yeovil ran out comfortable 3-1 winners against Maidenhead United.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah ahead of the match, Mark Cooper said: “We want him to hit the ground running and get back to where he was before the suspension. Brett starts again after missing out with illness last weekend and Sonny (Blu Lo-Everton) comes in for Charlie Cooper. Josh (Sims) has had a couple of training sessions, but he is still not 100% so he is one of the six subs along with Michael Smith.”

Exeter City loanee Pedro Borges impressed playing right wing-back at Southend last weekend and the boss said he has no doubt about the 19-year-old’s ability to cause problems.

He added: “The way we ask our wing-backs to play they are more or less wide midfield players, which is something he is accustomed to. Pedro has energy and physicality so if he brings us that, he has a chance to play well.”

Today’s fixture sees two of the National League Premier Division’s best defences go up against each other. The visitors have conceded 16 in their 17 league matches this season, whilst Yeovil have let in just 15 goals in the same amount of games.

Cooper said: “They are very resolute, well-structured with a lot of energy in the team. I say it every week, but every game is really difficult and sometimes you need a bit of luck. We have put a good run together and I said (in the pre-match press conference) on Thursday we have earned the fans getting behind us. We have played some good stuff and looked a decent team, so hopefully they can get behind us from the start and we can give them something to keep shouting about.“

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Full-back Michael Smith will be available for Yeovil Town when they take on FC Halifax Town at Huish Park this weekend.

The 36-year-old has trained this week having missed the last five matches with a hamstring injury which saw him go off at half-time in the 1-0 home win over Dagenham & Redbridge at the start of October.

Manager Mark Cooper said captain Matt Worthington was also back in training after suffering an ankle ligament injury early in the goalless draw at Tamworth four-and-a-half weeks ago, but the Glovers will be without midfielder Charlie Cooper who serves a one-match ban for picking up five bookings.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah on Thursday, the boss said: “Matt Worthington’s back in training, Michael Smith’s been back this week and he’s had a couple of good training sessions, so he is available this weekend.

“We have had one or two players off this week with a bug, Josh Sims has been ill, he was ill (at Southend) last weekend. So we still have some illness in the camp,  but we’re hopeful that we getting to the back end of that now.

“When you rip ankle ligaments you get you get a lot of ankle ligaments, but he is back on the grass now, so he will not be long. He’s a naturally really fit, fit lad, so it won’t be that long.”

Michael Smith will be fit to return for this weekend’s home match with FC Halifax Town. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

Cooper collected his fifth booking in last weekend’s 1-0 win at Southend United, a match which saw the home side’s goalkeeper Zach Jeacock sent-off for handling outside the box and manager Kevin Maher sent to the stands. Jeacock subsequently had his red card overturned on appeal this week.

The Glovers’ boss cut a frustrated figure in his post-match comments after the win in Essex and explained that an unnamed player had been accused of making “an inappropriate comment” by a Southend player – who subsequently admitted to inventing the comment.

Cooper said: “One of our players was accused of making an inappropriate comment which would have carried a minimum eight-game ban, if it had been substantiated. He was then consequently booked. We had four players booked, but I did not think any of them were bookings. There were two red cards (goalkeeper Zach Jeacock and manager Kevin Maher) for them and after the game the Southend player, admitted that he lied and made the comment up to get our player sent off. That is sad really.

“Their goalkeeper has had his red card rescinded following an appeal, but our player’s yellow card still stands and the player that made the allegation, unless we go to the FA, will get away with making up that comment. But we would not go to the FA because we’ve got better character than that. We are more of the belief that what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch. We are not like that, we have got proper characters, but if our player would have got sent off for the incident, he would have had the red card rescinded. That’s how mad it is.

“Their their goalkeeper gets a red card for a blatant handball and they somehow get that rescinded. How can we build a multi-million pound training centre at (the FA’s headquarters) St. George’s Park, build Wembley Stadium, put a man on the moon, but we can’t rescind a yellow card for something that somebody didn’t do? I suppose it’s just the state of the game now.”

Yeovil saw four players booked with defenders Jake Wannell, Finn Cousin-Dawson and Alex Whittle also collecting yellow cards alongside midfielder Cooper. Speaking after the game the manager said he felt like football was “losing the spirit of the game” due to the amount of bookings that are being handed out.

Referee Abigail Byrne shows Southend keeper Zach Jeacock a red card.

Five days later he reiterated previous comments about the need to change the disciplinary rules which see players handed a one-match ban for collecting five yellow cards.

He said: “If I showed you the four yellow cards  we got (at Southend) on Saturday, you would be scratching your head and saying ‘it’s just not it’s just contact’. It’s just Jake Wannell got a yellow card for their player putting his hand in Jake’s chest, falling over. Finn Cousin-Dawson got booked for winning the ball on the halfway line, and we still do not know what Alex Whittle got booked for. I’m not crying because we lost, we won the game, I am speaking about the good of the game.

“If you are a combative player, it is impossible to only have five yellow cards from the start of the season in August to the 23rd November when we will have 19 games including the FA Cup. It seems like that (the FA) does not want any contact or any emotion or any passion in the game, and that that goes to the touchline as well.

“If you’re gonna front load the games at the start of the season, then you you have to move the the the threshold (for the amount of bookings you can get) higher. You have to move the cut-off date for bookings back or make the number of bookings you have to receive for a suspension higher. It is impossible because there are that many games.”

This weekend’s encounter sees two of the National League Premier’s best defensive records come head-to-head. The Glovers have conceded just 15 goals in their opening 17 league matches, whilst Halifax have only let in one more. Only the division’s top two sides, York City (12) and Forest Green Rovers (14) have conceded less. 

Cooper said that he is viewing the fixture as another opportunity to add to their points total required to secure safety, despite his side being in the play-off places going in to the match against a side two points and one place behind them in the table.

He said: “When you first come into the league you look at getting enough points to try and make sure we’re still in (the division next season) and that has to be our first aim. We have got 28 points so I think we need another another six wins to make sure we are still in it and then we will go from there.”

Andrew Oluwabori in action for Yeovil Town. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Halifax have former Glovers’ loanee Andrew Oluwabori, who played 24 times under Cooper in the 2022/23 season whilst on loan from Peterborough United, and experienced striker Billy Waters, who returned to The Shay on loan from League One side Wrexham in September.

Cooper said: “I think they will come and have a go, they like to play on the front foot with real pace. They have got Andrew Oluwabori who is an absolute flying machine, Billy Waters, who is a a top player for the level, so I think they will come and have a go at us. But we have to concentrate on  what we do, we are playing some really good football at the moment, we are dominate and whilst we do our homework (on the opposition) but we have to concentrate on what we do really well.”

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Yeovil Town took home all three points from Southend this afternoon but Mark Cooper was far from pleased with his afternoon in Essex. The Yeovil boss praised the ‘incredible’ travelling support and his players, but during his interview with BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins, took aim at Southend, the FA and some of the things he heard during the match.

Here’s the full transcript of the interview:

Josh Perkins: Mark, I imagine you’ve got to be fairly happy with that one?

Mark Cooper: Yeah, I’m happy with the result. It was a horrible atmosphere. Yeah, I lost a little bit of what is in my soul about football today, some things I’ve seen and heard, I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all.

Josh Perkins: Can I ask what you heard?

Mark Cooper: No, just ridiculous stuff.

Josh Perkins: Okay, focusing on the game when you’re in those moments, be it with the red card from their keeper and the red card for their head coach and things. How difficult is that to kind of get on top of? And you know, make sure that you play your game?

Mark Cooper: You have to stay calm, of course. All our players stayed calm. One of our players [Charlie Cooper] got a yellow card which means he’s suspended. Is, honest to God, some of the stuff like that. Again, I’ve seen and heard full respect to our players. They kept they kept it together, and played our football that we do, and dominate the ball for long periods and just a matter of time if we were going to score.

Josh Perkins: And, you won’t go in to what you heard potentially. But was it from a Yeovil or Southend contingent?

Mark Cooper: No comment. I’ll not comment on it, it’s just ridiculous. What I’ve heard.

Josh Perkins: Okay. And I guess happy with James Plant’s first goal for the club as well? You know, he said to me earlier, he didn’t mean it, but, you know, across ends up with a goal.

Mark Cooper: It was a great cross wasn’t it? So yeah, listen, we deserved to win the game. It was tough on them. The goalie gets sent off. It ruins the game as a spectacle. But I thought it was a sending off – he handled the ball outside the box. They appealed for a penalty. I’ve just seen it wasn’t a penalty. I feel really sorry for referees and fourth officials, because they’ve been put in a really difficult position where you can get booked, as a player, as a manager, for adopting a winning attitude. Or I’ve been sent off this season for raising my arms above my waist, so which was rescinded. Their manager has had the same, but the referees and the officials have nowhere to go with it because they’re instructed. And we’re just losing the spirit and the emotion of the game.

Josh Perkins: Okay. And looking forward, we’ve got the next game, you mentioned that Charlie Cooper is suspended for. But you know, what do you take from this game going into next week?

Mark Cooper: Three points. I can’t wait to get out, get home. I wanted to come and watch Southend last week, and they wouldn’t leave me a ticket. They wouldn’t even reply to our emails. They’ve refused to make any food for our players, which is a National League rule. So, yeah, I can’t wait to get home to be honest, Can I just say tremendous turnout from our supporters. Incredible. They follow us through thick and thin, and they’re unbelievable. Great turnout.

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper believes the absence of a number of his regular first teamers offers an opportunity to other members of the squad this weekend.

The Glovers travel to Southend United on Saturday without suspended defender Morgan Williams and Dom Bernard and striker Aaron Jarvis, along with injured captain Matt Worthington and full-back Michael Smith.

The boss also told BBC Somerset reporter Jack Killah that other members of the squad were struggling with illness ahead of the trip to Essex.

He said: “We have got (Morgan) Williams out suspended, (Aaron) Jarvis out suspended, Dom Bernard out suspended, we have got (Matt) Worthington and Michael Smith injured and on top of that we have got one or two struggling with this cold or flu. I’m sure the boys that are ill will put their hand up and want to play, but it gives some of the other boys chance to get some game time.

“It is very rare we have a full bench (of seven substitutes this season). I’m not massive on we have to have a full bench, because you can only use five. I’ll be happy if we can get to five on the bench on Saturday for sure.”

He added: “Suspensions have killed us this week, Dom Bernard and Jarvis both got a stupid bookings (in the 3-1 home win over Maidenhead United) and that hurts us. They are both in such good form and going into this game in a real good vein of form, it just puts the pressure on the other lads, which we could do without. But, we’re not going to cry about it, we’re going to go and try and get a result.”

Jarvis, who has three goals in his last two matches, and Bernard both sit out one-man bans for collecting five bookings whilst Williams serves the second match of a three-match ban for his sending off in the goalless draw at Tamworth. Cooper has said he hopes to have Smith back for the following weekend’s home match with FC Halifax Town.

Pedro Borges has made four appearances for Exeter City this season.

Former Glovers’ academy player Pedro Borges will be available having joined on loan until January during the week, and Cooper expects him to be an asset to the squad alongside fellow loanees wingers Kofi Shaw and James Plant.

He said: “Pedro is a young player like Kofi (Shaw), like (James) Plant, that wants to come and play some minutes. He is desperate to get some first-team football, he’s 6’1″ and athletic, he certainly adds to the forward areas of the pitch.

“We have had our eye on him because of his connection with the Yeovil area, being at Yeovil initially. I spoke to Gary Caldwell, the Exeter manager when we played them pre-season and just said ‘keep an eye on him, he’s going to be available at some point’, we got that opportunity at the start of the week to bring him in, with him being local as well, it’s a no-brainer.”

Having had no fixture last weekend due to the early exit from the FA Cup, the Glovers travel to Southend with the second-best record in the National League Premier over the last four games, with three wins and one draw, the same as leaders York City and second-placed Forest Green Rovers.

Southend went out of the Cup last weekend after a late extra-time winner from League One Charlton  Athletic, but won last time out in the league at Roots’ Hall, defeating Tamworth. However, home soil has not been the happiest of hunting grounds having won just three of their eight matches there this season.

On his side’s form, Cooper said: “When you win games it breeds confidence but as the coach it has been more about our performances. We have been playing well, we have spoken about the conversion rate (of chances to goals) as not being high enough, but we’ve been playing well and we try and talk about performances. If we keep doing that, the results will come.

“We’ve started to score goals and that’s been the only thing missing. The players have been great we have played some brilliant football and as I’ve mentioned, if you look at all the teams that we have played recently, they have all gone in the FA Cup last week, played against Football League teams and nearly all of them have won.”

Charlie Cooper celebrates his goal in the 3-1 home win over Maidenhead United. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

It will be exactly two weeks since the 3-1 home win over Maidenhead United when Yeovil run out in Essex at the weekend, but Cooper believes the break will leave his available players refreshed.

He said: “It is always good to have a freshen up, but only if you hit the ground running again. We knew after the last game that we were going to be missing players with suspension (against Southend), then on top of that you’ve got a horrendous bug going round the country, isn’t there? I’m sure most clubs will be missing players at the weekend with that, but we have to deal with it.

“We take the game in isolation and it’s one that I’m sure Southend are expecting a tough game and one that we are really looking forward to. The players that do come into the team are good players and they have an opportunity to show that.”

He added: “At the minute, I know that we’re in the play-offs and we want to try and win as many games and try and stay up there and we think we’re a reasonably-sized club for the level. The way we are playing we believe that can upset one or two of the big boys along the way and we want to try and stay around the top for as long as we can. We can only do that by taking it game-by-game.“

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Yeovil Town have received an offer from an unnamed National League club for winger Jordan Young.

Manager Mark Cooper confirmed the offer following the 3-1 home win over Maidenhead United on Saturday which saw the 25-year-old left out of the squad.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall after the game, the boss called on supporters to trust him with decisions about the Glovers’ playing squad.

He said: “We have had an offer for Jordan, so we are discussing that and we will take some time over the weekend to consider that. All I will say is we have to keep evolving we have to keep making the squad better and make sure everyone who comes here is desperate to play for us and all I will say is trust what we are doing.”

Young, who joined from Chippenham Town in January 2023, appeared off the substitutes’ bench in the 0-0 draw at Tamworth on Tuesday night, but was not in the squad against Maidenhead.