Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 66)

Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper gave full credit to his players after a 2-1 home win over an Oldham Athletic at Huish Park this afternoon.

A double from midfielder Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, who the boss revealed was playing despite suffering illness this week, saw the Glovers deservedly pick up the three points despite a late consolation goal from the visitors.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman after the game, Cooper said that his squad had not used the off-the-field turmoil following the decision of owner Martin Hellier to step down as chairman and put the club up for sale as an excuse for poor performances.

He said: “The players deserve all the credit today. With all that has been going on off-the-pitch, they have not used that as an excuse, they have kept going and got some good results. We should have got a result (in the 2-1 defeat at Altrincham) last weekend, we won two games before that and we have put ourselves in a healthy position in the table and hopefully things get resolved off the pitch. The current owner is kindly still funding the club and we need that to continue until something is resolved.”

The day started with the news that on loan defender Kyle Ferguson had been recalled by his parent club Rochdale, on top of on loan Oldham winger Otis Khan being ineligible to play against his parent club, and injuries to midfielder Charlie Cooper. Defenders Jake Wannell and Michael Smith made their first starts since coming back from injury and there was an appearance off the bench for Morgan Williams, his first in more than two months.

Cooper said:  “We are besieged with issues, losing players late yesterday with Kyle Ferguson (being recalled from his loan spell), Otis (Khan) obviously could not play (against his parent club), Charlie Cooper’s Achilles was not right, Sonny turned up not well, Michael Smith not ready to start, Morgan (Williams) was not really ready. It was just a case of managing the minutes enough so we did not risk any repeat injuries.

“(Jake) Wannell did not really want to play 90 minutes but we had to leave him on because of the state of the game. The players deserve all the credit, they stuck to the game plan, we nullified a lot of what Oldham did and always carried a threat ourselves. The boys were great today against a squad full of really good players and we had to be good to get any points. We were really just committed.”

Williams, who has not featured since the 1-1 draw at Dagenham & Redbridge at the start of February, came on as a 57th minute substitute for Smith to counter the appearance of Oldham top scorer Mike Fondop, thrown on after Lo-Everton’s second goal four minutes in to the second half.

The manager added: “The physio was not happy I put him on. He was supposed to have 20-25 minutes, but at that point Michael Smith had to come off because we did not want to risk his hamstring going again. Once Oldham put Fondop on, we needed another big player to be able to defend the box.”

Lo-Everton took his tally to three goals for the season with a strike early in each half. Cooper said: “The second one was great play from Ciaran McGuckin. He doesn’t give up and managed to get a foot to it before it goes out of play and crosses it for Sonny. The first one is a great finish from Sonny. I thought we were really good in the first half, but once our players that are coming back from injury started to tire, you could see that was when Oldham started to get a bit of a foothold in the game. They are going to have a spell in the game, I could not see their goal coming, it is 40 yards out, drop ball and we should do better on that one, but we managed to see it through.“

Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has told his side they have to “get after” today’s opponents play-off hopefuls Oldham Athletic at Huish Park today.

The Glovers have named an unchanged starting XI for the last two matches but have been forced in to three changes with an injury to midfielder Charlie Cooper, the recall of loan defender Kyle Ferguson by his parent club Rochdale, and loan winger Otis Khan unavailable to face his parent club.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Mark Stillman ahead of kick-off, the manager said: “We have to make it really difficult for Oldham. We have to go toe-to-toe and get after them and make sure we are always in with a chance of getting something to stay in the game. We have to be front foot and get after them.

“We should have got a result last weekend (in the 2-1 defeat at Altrincham). A negative last 20 minutes where we did not go on the front foot and it cost us, you run the risk of conceding a fluke goal and that is what has happened. But today we are at home and hopefully the fans will get behind the team for 90 minutes and go and get after them.”

The visitors have also made four changes from Tuesday night’s 2-1 home defeat to Oldham Athletic with top scorer Mike Fondop replaced by the experienced Joe Garner, who is celebrating his 37th birthday today.

There is no place in the visitors’ squad for ex-Glovers’ captain Matt Worthington, who moved to Greater Manchester from Somerset at the end of January.

Oldham are looking to cement their place in the National League Premier Division play-offs. They sit in fourth place, nine points behind third-placed Forest Green Rovers, who visit Huish Park on Good Friday, and six points off Altrincham who sit in eighth, just outside the play-off places.

Defender Morgan Williams is in contention to be involved for Yeovil Town in this weekend’s home match with Oldham Athletic.

Manager Mark Cooper has confirmed the former Coventry City player has been in full training all week and said the Huish Park coaching staff would make a decision whether to risk him for the National League Premier Division fixture. Williams has not featured since the 1-1 draw at Dagenham & Redbridge at the start of February.

He is one of a number of injury question marks in the squad with full-back Alex Whittle suffering a nasty cut on his head during last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Altrincham, which saw both him and midfielder Charlie Cooper (tendonitis) withdrawn after just 28 minutes.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins on Thursday, Cooper said: “Morgan Williams is back in full training this week, so we have a decision to make about whether he has done enough or are we putting him at risk by playing him in maybe putting him on the pitch at some point. That is something we are assessing.

“Alex Whittle had a really bad cut on his forehead and we are not sure whether he will be able to play. It is certainly going to open up the cut again, but amazingly we did not even get a foul or a free-kick. Charlie has been struggling with tendonitis in both of his Achilles tendons, so it is a difficult one. We are not blessed with lots of players so we will have to see how that goes.”

The boss also gave an update on the fitness of striker Aaron Jarvis, who has not featured since suffering a hamstring injury in mid-January, adding: “If Aaron Jarvis is going to play any part (this season) it will possibly be the last two games off the bench.”

Oldham arrive in Somerset looking to arrest indifferent form which has seen them lose their last two games including a 2-1 defeat at home to Woking on Tuesday night.

The Glovers went down to a 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture in Greater Manchester in September when a goal from top scorer Mike Fondop was the difference between the two sides in a match which saw Cooper sent off for his protests to the referee.

He said: “It was a tight game up there. They are in a little bit of indifferent form and I think they have a few injuries, but they have really good players and a manager who knows how to get out of the league and they will be in the play-offs, it just comes down to which position they finish in. They are a massive club, probably the biggest in the division, so we are expecting a tough game. We have to be concentrated on what we do, be really difficult to play against like we have been in the last few weeks and hope we get a bit of luck.”

One familiar face in the visiting squad will be former Glovers’ captain Matt Worthington who switched the South West for the North West at the end of the January having clocked up his 250th appearance for Yeovil.

Cooper said: “It will be great to see Worthy again, he was a great servant for us. He has been in and out of the team, but played the other night. He has got himself a good move to a big club, so we cannot begrudge that.”

The manager was also asked about how his planning was going to retain and build a squad for next season with the off-the-field uncertainty caused by the decision of chairman Martin Hellier to step down in recent weeks. The local businessman has declared his ambition to sell the club.

Cooper said: “When you realise what is going on above, it is very difficult to do any planning and that needs to be resolved before we get to that stage. At the moment it is just about everyone doing as well as they can to put themselves in a good position whether that is here or elsewhere.“