Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 496)

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Reuben Reid returns to the Yeovil Town starting line-up for the visit to Altrincham in the penultimate game of the National League season.

The striker is likely to pairwith Joe Quigley up front with Chris Dagnall moving back in to midfield and Charlie Lee dropping back to fill in defence in place of the suspended Luke Wilkinson.

Boss Darren Sarll starts again with just four substitutes.

Yeovil Town: Adam Smith, Michael Kelly, Billy Sass-Davies, Carl Dickinson, Charlie Lee, Tom Knowles, Lawson D’Ath, Josh Neufville, Joe Quigley, Reuben Reid.

Substitues: Max Evans (GK), Emmanual Sonupe, Toby Stephens,Adam Heaton.

 

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Picture Courtesy Of Mike Kunz

The FA Suspension’s Website is a less than reliable source of information at the best of times, but it has now finally been updated to show that Yeovil Town defender Luke Wilkinson will miss the rest of the season with a two-game ban to serve.

Wilko was sent off for two bookings in the 0-0 draw with Maidenhead.

Normally, this would carry just a one match ban, but as it is his second red card of the season, it is extended to two.

Wilko was also sent off in a 0-0 with Dagenham back in October – maybe he just really dislikes 0-0 draws!

This will leave the Glovers very short in defensive options with Alex Bradley still to serve the final match of his ban as well as injury concerns over Albi Skendi, Max Hunt and Josh Staunton who have all played in the heart of the back four this season.

We expect loanee Billy Sass Davies to be partnered by midfielder Charlie Lee for the game against Altrincham –
… unless the gaffer has a trick up his sleeve!

 

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Yeovil Town top-scorer Rhys Murphy has been linked with a move to National League new boys Southend United.

The @SouthendSimply Twitter account appears to have taken a punt after the Southend Echo reported the Essex club had made two signings – one of which is believed to be a striker – but could not announce them until their current club’s season had finished.

Murphy’s home base in the South East, plus confirmation from  Glovers’ boss Darren Sarll that the striker has not yet accepted a contract offer are presumably part of the speculation equation as well.

The 30-year-old, who has 13 goals this season, has not featured since the 3-0 home win over Solihull Moors at the end of last month.

https://twitter.com/SouthendSimply/status/1395798727537876994?s=20

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It has been a disappointing end to Altrincham‘s first season back in the National League after promotion last year.

A strong start saw them pick up wins against Wrexham, Chesterfield, Boreham Wood and Dagenham and Redbridge, but their form had just started to take a downward turn when Yeovil beat them 2-0 at Huish Park with goals from Rhys Murphy and Chris Dagnall in mid-February.

They go in to this weekend’s fixture on the back of a terrible run of form with six defeats and a draw in their last seven games and will be hoping to put on a final flourish with fans allowed back in the The J.Davidson Stadium for the first time.

Altrincham have two more opportunities to entertain the home crowd with another home game against Eastleigh in midweek before finishing at home to Gary Johnson’s Torquay next weekend.

FROM THE (ASSISTANT) MANAGER

Speaking after a 2-1 defeat at W*ymouth last weekend, Alty assistant manager Neil Sorvel said he was aiming to finish top of the mini-league of promoted sides including King’s Lynn, Wealdstone and W*ymouth.

He said: “It would be a really good achievement to do that, but it needs a positive finish from us, and that’s what we will be aiming for.

“We’ve got three home games left, with the fans back in, and we need some good performances to get them on our side.

“We’ve got to produce something that will excite them, and we can do that by playing to the level we’re capable of.”

TEAM NEWS

On the eve of Yeovil’s visit to Greater Manchester, Altrincham confirmed that forwards Yusifu Ceesay and Joe Piggott are both set to leave the club.

Neither player has appeared in the squad since the Bank Holiday Monday defeat at Solihull Moors earlier this month and manager Phil Parkinson said the decision had been made to give the club “the strongest, most competitive squad possible” for next season.

Speaking to the club’s website, the manager said: “Ultimately, we want to be more than just survival candidates long term. That’s why difficult decisions have to be made, and we are in the process of making some key ones. I would like to thank them both for their commitment to the club this season. Their attitude and application has been first class.”

Striker Nyal Bell and  defender Yoan Zouma have also been allowed to  return to their parent clubs, National League rivals Stockport and Barrow respectively – and we would like to thank them for their efforts during their short spells with Alty.

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

Glovers’ on-loan defender Billy Sass-Davies had a spell on loan at Altrincham earlier this season.

The Crewe Alexandra player made seven appearances on loan between November and December.

That was his second spell with Alty having had a brief spell there at the end of last season, making just one appearance before being recalled by his parent club.

A slightly more retro connection is winger Lee Elam who had 12 matches with Yeovil Town who was snapped up by Gary Johnson back in our first season in the Football League back in 2003.

He made 12 appearances in that season before being shipped out to Chester City at the end of that campaign.

Elam would later go on to play for Exeter and W*ymouth in the Westcountry and eventually spent the 2008-09 at Altrincham  in the Blue Square Premier, playing 45 times and coaching the club’s youth team.

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Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has said the club will need to be careful with their recruitment as they prepare for a third season in the National League.

The Glovers’ boss said there were “ongoing discussions” with a number of players who are out of contract at the end of the current campaign, but said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of parachute payments would hit hard.

Speaking on Thursday ahead of the weekend’s match at Altrincham, he said: “We have lost huge amounts of money next year because our League parachute payments stop.
“I have to take my hat off to Scott (Priestnall) because he has taken over a club at the worst time ever with relegation from the League, then COVID and the loss of parachute payments, but he has always stood firm and tried to give me the best conditions to do my job.
“We learnt on recruitment by not recruiting early enough, which we went on record about earlier this year around Christmas when I was having a bad time.
“We have to spend very sensibly this year and recruitment has to be a lot better.”

He said he expected to have another busy summer with agents for players pitching him players and potentially having to react to losing players, adding the club had made “over six figures” from sales of winger Myles Hippolyte to Scunthorpe United last summer, and strikers Courtney Duffus and Alfie Lloyd to Bromley and QPR respectively.

Sarll said: “Those sales have kept us going, so are we going to have to do that again and have to react to losing players? I don’t know.
“We’re going to have a five-week period between now and the start of pre-season where we are going to have a more settled squad doing a full pre-season. That will be my aim because we have never had that.”

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Darren Sarll is expecting to field another patched-up Yeovil Town side when they travel to Altrincham for the penultimate game of the season this weekend.

The boss has said he expects to be without defender Luke Wilkinson who was sent off for two bookings in the goalless draw with Maidenhead United in midweek, the first for kicking the ball away and the second for handling the ball in to the net.

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Speaking ahead of the match, Sarll described the decision from referee Daniel Lamport as “silly“, but warned his players he would not accept them picking up bookings for dissent.

He said: “I have said to (Lee) that you are going to lose lots of money if you do that stuff – people are going to get fined.
“I don’t mind people getting booked for tackles, my teams normally play on the edge a bit anyway and if we are booked because we are trying to be competitive, but there is no room for dissent.
“We will probably lose him for the rest of the season which hurts us because he is a huge player for us and we have only had him for 18 games.”

The manager added he did not expect to have any key players including midfielder Matt Worthington or top scorer Rhys Murphy to be fit for the game.

He said: “We have taken a step back because of (the sending off of Wilkinson), I don’t think anyone would be back fit.
“I was hoping to have Alex John back fit and get him in some games because he is a brilliant kid and he deserves some games.
“I don’t think he will make it, I don’t think Worthington will make it, Charlie (Lee) is walking like he has glass in his shoe now.
“Murphy is nowhere near, so we are going to be very short.”

Sarll said he hoped his side would continue to be as motivated as they have been since to returning to playing following a break due to the death of club captain Lee Collins.

He added: “My lads have been heavily motivated and kept a very good attitude and sometimes that has not been good enough and sometimes it has.
“If we can replicate Tuesday’s performance on Saturday, that is all we can ask for.
“The only difference is we are going to be missing another central defender – it’s been a car crash of a season in centre halves.”

Altrincham have confirmed are limiting attendance to just 600 for the visit of the Glovers to “gauge the effectiveness in maintaining social distancing” with tickets on sale to home fans only.

In a statement, the club said: “After carefully considering the paramount importance of spectator safety and the need to test our procedures to gauge their effectiveness in maintaining social distancing, we are limiting the attendance against Yeovil to 600.

“It is our hope and expectation that we will then be able to accommodate the permitted figure of 1,231 for the following two games.”

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Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

Rhys Murphy has not yet accepted a contract offer to extend his stay at Yeovil Town.

The Glovers’ top scorer, who has 13 goals for the club this season, is out of contract at the end of the season and therefore free to leave on a free transfer.

Speaking ahead of the match at Altrincham, manager Darren Sarll said: “We have tried to discuss on several occasions with Rhys a new contract and, as of yet, he has not accepted any of those offers. It will be ongoing until he signs for Yeovil or somewhere else. We have taken players from lower leagues and players who were relegated with this club and made them better players, and those players have a right to investigate those offers. It is a job, they still have to pay their mortgage and you have to respect that.”

Murphy has not played since the 3-0 home win over Solihull Moors last month when he came on as an 86th-minute substitute and is not expected to play at the weekend.

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This would have been the Good Friday (02/04) game; but the passing of our captain Lee Collins earlier that week put anything so trivial as playing a football match into perspective.

Saturday’s (22/05) rearrangement will be our first trip to Moss Lane in twenty-one years, since 29th April 2000 to be exact, when a 2-2 draw helped Alty on their way to relegation out of what was then called the Nationwide Conference into the Northern Premier League. Kick-off is 3.00 p.m.

From that time the two clubs veered along different paths, until now. With the formation of Conference North and South in 2004 Alty found their natural football niche: a yo-yo club between the North and the National divisions. They might have yo-yoed even more but for an unlikely sequence of good fortune. Between 2005-06 and 2007-08 Altrincham finished in the relegation zone all three seasons, only to be reprieved each time. In 2005-06 they were saved when Canvey Island resigned and Scarborough were demoted; saved again in 2006-07 when Boston United were demoted; and yet again in 2007-08 with the liquidation of Halifax. A couple of seasons later they were again back in the relegation zone, but this time had run out of clubs to be demoted in their stead.

Since then Altrincham has been up and down several times, the most recent move being upwards from North to National last season when PPG had them finishing sixth and they then beat Chester, York City and Boston United in the belated play-offs.

Back at Easter when the match was originally scheduled both clubs could still just about claim to have vague aspirations of unlikely bids for the play-offs. These are now long gone. Altrincham, 11th on 27th March after a 0-1 win away to Maidenhead, have not won a game since. Having only picked up a single point in the meantime – a 1-1 draw at home to Notts County – it’s been a steady drift down the table, to a current 17th.

This should be Altrincham’s first match with some fans back at Moss Lane (J. Davidson Stadium). The club is hoping to be allowed 1,200 spectators though there appears to have been some delay in getting the required confirmation from Trafford Borough Council. However, any hiccups are irrelevant to us as whenever it does get sorted it’ll be home fans only.

Yeovil Town has Alex Bradley and Luke Wilkinson serving suspensions. Billy Sass-Davies should know the Moss Lane pitch well having had two loan spells with Altrincham, the second earlier this season when he made seven appearances.

The Alty TV LIVE streaming service costs £9.99 and can be found via: Streaming on Alty TV LIVE | Altrincham Football Club (altrinchamfc.com)  . At the time of writing purchase for the Yeovil fixture has not gone live.

The usual radio commentary from BBC Somerset Radio Somerset – Listen Live – BBC Sounds and Three Valleys Three Valleys Radio – Yeovil’s Sports Radio Station will be available.