Player interviews (Page 6)

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Charlie Wakefield has said he owes a lot to Yeovil Town after an injury-free season.

The winger’s appearance coming off the bench to score the equaliser in the 2-2 draw at King’s Lynn Town last weekend was his 41st of the campaign.

That is more than his previous best last season when he managed 23 games in spells at Wealdstone and Bromley.

Charlie Wakefield fires in a shot. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Speaking ahead of the Good Friday fixture with Aldershot Town, the 23-year-old said: “I owe a lot to the club, I have played a lot of games this season and I owe them a lot for that opportunity.

“Whether I am playing 90 minutes or ten minutes I want to give it my all. There’s seven games to go, so it’s been a long season but a good season.”

The former Chelsea youngster spoke about how caretaker boss Charlie Lee spoke to him ahead of the long trip to Norfolk last weekend, telling him he would not be starting the match.

Wakefield said: “He pulled me and rightly so. I did look fatigued in the last couple of games, I felt it in myself.

“I have been honest with the club and told them I am tired and that has restricted my performance because I have not been able to do what people are used to seeing me do.

“When the season is done, I will switch off, but whilst there’s still games to go, I am not switching off whatever role I have in these next couple of games.”

He also revealed he has set himself a target of reaching double figures in goals having netted eight times in all competitions.

He said: “To score a few goals has been great and there’s seven games left, so getting in to double figures is something I would like to do and, being a wide player, adding a few more assists is something I need to do.

“It’s been good to score some goals in some big games – the FA Cup game against Stevenage – so I am happy with the goals but I do want to get double figures.

“For me to play the amount of games I have is the proudest thing because my body has proved I can do it and now I want to go in to next season and replicate that.”

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Mark Little warms up at Chesterfield ? Ben Barrett

Yeovil Town defender Mark Little spoke to BBC Somerset after the 2-2 draw at King’s Lynn Town and said how there’s no sign the side are going to take it easy, in any single match or in the rest of the season as a whole.

The right-back said: “Circumstances altogether, I think it took us six hours to get here, the pitch is horrendous, it’s windy, they’re scrapping for their lives.

“It was never going to be a pretty game of football… it was a battle and we stood up to the battle.”

It was Charlie Wakefield’s last gasp equaliser that saved the Glovers’ blushes, something which Little said he’s chuffed about.

He said: “It’s great for him, Charlie works so hard, he’s desperate to be on the scoresheet every week and it hasn’t been coming off but he’s got his goal today.

“It looks like Charlie Lee has made the best decision ever to leave him out and bring him on at the right time, it makes him look a really good manager.”

It was a feisty game with both teams reduced to ten men, something which Little admits they had to keep on top of.

He added: “We wanted to win the game, we had the momentum, when we came out for the second half, I think we were on top, we were the only side who were going to go on and win it

“The last eight minutes was frantic, there plenty of chances and edge of the seat stuff.

“Credit to the boys for keeping going for 97 minutes.”

The former Bristol City man was asked about the team’s motivation for carrying on with their never give up style and he said that players were fighting to the end.

He said: “We are all playing for our careers, we are all playing to impress the people that are watching.

“Since Charlie (Lee) has come in, we said you can have a nine game season of letting the season fizzle out or we can have a right go and show everyone what we are made of.

“We just want to get as close up the table as we can.

“It’s interesting here, because so many lads are out of contract, near enough 90% of the team are thinking I’ve got another year here, I’ll take my foot off the gas and there’s nothing to play for and I’ll have a holiday until next year

“That won’t happen here, the group of lads are amazing and we’ve got senior lads who are amazing who won’t allow that to happen.”

 

 

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Luke Wilkinson and Reuben Reid celebrate vs Stevenage. ? Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town defender Luke Wilkinson has said he has appreciated the fans’ support as the season draws to a close.

Following a really positive turnout of fans against Barnet.

“Saturday (against Barnet) we felt we should have won from our recent little run we had been on.”

“It was a brilliant turnout (of Yeovil fans) they never stopped singing for us and cheering us on, it was absolutely brilliant”

“People might say we’ve got nothing to play for, but we have, we’ve got pride and we want to win as many games as well can between now and the end of the season and see where that puts us”.

Wilkinson, who has played in each of the last couple of games despite an injury scare said how he, along with other senior players have had to step up to help interim manager Charlie Lee.

“(Charlie Lee) has openly come to us and asked, and said I’m going to lean on you guys for your help, we could see that last weekend with Josh Staunton helping during the game and in the warm up.

“We’re happy to do that, Charlie is the interim manager, his decision goes, but if he ever needs our help, we are always there to back him up”

Captain Wilkinson

Meanwhile, the hunt for Luke’s first goal of the season continues,

“I’ve been saying it for weeks now, I should have scored… I’m trying my best to get on the end of things, hopefully one of them will fly in soon”

“It’s been really frustrating, the chance on Saturday, I really should have scored that one, I was really disappointed at the time, but there’s been other ones during the season. That’s definitely a goal of mine to get at least a couple before the end of the season.”

The central defender might not have been overly pleased with the Gloverscast reminding him he has found a goal every season since 2013/14, but not yet this one… Best get your head on one then Wilko!

 

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Reuben Reid opens the scoring in the 2-0 win over Southend. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town goal-scorer Reuben Reid has said there was a tinge of disappointment not to get caretaker boss Charlie Lee a win in his first game.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, the striker said that there was plenty of positives to come out of the 2-2 draw at Barnet, but he felt it was another ‘what if?’ story for the Glovers.

He said: “We were good in parts, from minute one to ten, we looked red hot, with Knowlesy who is in a run of form – he’s in a good moment – I thought then we would be runaway winners, it wasn’t to be.

“We then went to looking like a group of players who hadn’t played together or trained together, we didn’t stick to what our principals were in the formation we were playing,

“It wasn’t so much Barnet being good, it more us being maybe not on it'”

Tom Knowles’ ninth minute opener set the Glovers on their way, only for the hosts fought back to retake the lead, before Reid grabbed a late equaliser with his second goal in as many matches.

There were chances for both side to win the game, most notably a header from on loan defender Ben Barclay, but Reid felt the second half was as patchy as the first.

He added: “We came into the second half and for blocks of the game, it looked like we had cracked it and we looked like a good team.

“We’ve had chances, I’m just disappointed for Charlie Lee really, it was a great opportunity to get him up and running as a manager, I think we didn’t really capitalise on the opportunity”

“It’s not all doom and gloom, we came on strong… as the game started it was a strikers game, thinking ‘fill your boots’, … as I said at the start, it shows how frustrating it is, it shows what could have been, but also it shows what it is.”

“Everyone is in there, head in their hands, like I say disappointed for Charlie Lee, it would have been nice to get the win”

Reid stated that the standards would remain high between now and the end of the season, despite the mid-table position.

He said: “I don’t think you become a professional player without having your own standards within you, our old manager has gone, you don’t down tools.

“I know people are saying, we can’t get the play offs and we can’t get relegated, but that’s irrelevant, as a player you’ve got a duty to come in and perform in training, and there’s certain characters in the group, that won’t allow you to come in (and down tools) because certain people will be onto you.”

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Carl Dickinson in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Former Yeovil Town Captain Carl Dickinson has given his full support to Charlie Lee as he takes up the reigns at Huish Park following the departure of Darren Sarll.

Speaking exclusively to the Gloverscast, Dicko, a former teammate of Lee said that the former midfielder has all the attributes to make it a success.

“Charlie has played at different levels with different manager that have had success so he will have definitely learned from the them and will take bits that he wants to take from them the he thinks will be successful.

“He’s passionate and demands high standards and is very knowledgeable”

Lee joins Dickinson at Hanley Town and others from the 2019/20 side who have since gone into coaching, Jimmy Smith is now in the Chelsea set up, Dicko says it’s not a surprise to see Lee in coaching, albeit maybe not this soon.

“Charlie has always been passionate about helping people with the experiences he has had, so it’s no surprise to me that he’s now coaching, 

“This will probably have come a lot quicker than he imagined but I’m sure he’s excited and ready for the challenge, he will have people he can speak to and ask for advice as well”

Charlie Lee controls the midfield
? Mike Kunz

One of those people, is Carl himself.

“I’ve sent him a message wishing him all the best, he knows I’m always on the end of the phone if he ever wants to chat about anything.”

It’s been mentioned that Charlie Lee takes over a good group with some experienced heads in the team including Luke Wilkinson,

“He’s got a good relationship with all the lads, let alone Wilko, I think it’ll be a case of just making sure they keep ticking over and maintaining the standards they’ve set over the last two or three weeks.”

Dickinson ended with a simple plea to fans, “Keep cheering Chaz and the boys home”.

We will, Dicko, we will.

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Yeovil Town midfielder Josh Staunton has said that whilst a play-off charge is unlikely (but not impossible), it was still up to the group to find the motivation to finish the season strongly.

“I think it comes down to us as a group of players, with the manager, we are not going to be allowed to sit on our laurels and just float through the end of the season.”

“We’ve had a difficult run in ourselves, where we haven’t produced result like we wanted to, even if sometimes the performances have been really good.”

“It’s now a case in pride is us as a group and finish as high up the table as we can and you never know, in this league, if you can put a run together like we did before Christmas, maybe we can make a really late challenge. But I think it comes down to pride, we have to go out there in every game with the intent to win and take club as high up the table as we can, finish the season positively and that gives us a way to carry it through to next season.”

With regards to Saturday’s game against Grimsby, who are themselves flirting with the play-offs, Staunton thinks that it could act as a catalyst for a positive run.

“Every game at this level is hard, as we’ve seen… we played well when we went up to Grimsby, we just couldn’t score.

“It was probably the start of our good run, Grimsby away (Editor Note: we went 11 unbeaten after) so I think we go into it with positive thoughts, we played well against them last time, we were just lacking goals, if we can get an early one, it’ll change the atmosphere around the place, atmosphere in the dressing room and some of that belief might come back.”

There was no question about his ongoing hernia problem which was referenced after the game on Tuesday, but the fact that Sam got him to do press duty suggests he should be fine for the game.

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Tom Knowles in action
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town forward Tom Knowles spoke to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the 1-1 draw with Notts County and despite being on the wrong end of 94th minute equaliser, he said he and squad weren’t too downbeat.

“There’s a lot of positives we can take from that, I think we were the better team for the vast majority of the game, and we’ve been (doing) so well at defending our box all season, so it’s disappointing to concede the goal in that way.

“We’re very positive after that, although it’s disappointing not to get all three points, it’s a great result away at Notts County.”

Knowles echoed the manager’s thoughts that the group is working hard as a unit and that the squad a brilliant to be around, even if the likelihood of a play-off place is getting smaller by the game.

“It’s something that we all buy into, we do it for each other, we run our legs into the ground and we know that when we get taken off, that someone else is going to come on and do exactly the same. We are going to give absolutely everything into every game.”

Knowles was asked about the lack of goals this season and he was sure they would come eventually.

“I think that’s the frustrating part for us boys up top is that, we are all working so hard and the final bit is the final third, the last bit in front of goal, so I’m sure when one comes the floodgates will open, and we will start scoring and flying.”

The former Cambridge United man was taken off towards the end, but the front man confirmed, it was nothing too serious and was already looking forward to playing Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday night.

“The fans really get behind us there (Huish Park) and we will definitely want to put on a show for them and the ones that travel – we are so thankful for their support because Nottingham isn’t exactly around the corner from Yeovil, nor is Chesterfield. 

“The support has been brilliant the last couple of games so get back in front of our home fans and put on a show.”

Much like Darren Sarll, he reiterated his enjoyment at playing in this squad and was hoping for more success with this group.

“I love it, I love the dressing room, everyone of us are buying into the exact same thing and we all want the exact same outcome, we all get on on and off the pitch and when the results start coming on the pitch we will fly, I’m sure of it.”

You know what they say… “don’t fall in love with footballers…”

…too late.

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Guy Whittingham has revealed that Yeovil Town did try to buy him out of the Army before he made a move to Portsmouth off the back of a prolific spell in Somerset.

The striker scored 19 times in 23 matches during a six-month spell at Huish in the 1988-89 season whilst a physical instructor in the Army.

Guy Whittingham in action for Yeovil Town against Enfield in April 1989. Picture courtesy of Tim Lancaster.

Speaking to us in the latest episode of the GloversPast, he told us how he paid £450 to buy himself out of his forces’ contract to move to Fratton Park, with Yeovil not receiving a penny for his services.

Whittingham said: “To be fair, (the then-Yeovil manager) Brian Hall was trying to keep me, he wanted to buy me out of the Army and be full-time at Yeovil.

“They were talking about some houses down here being built and they could get me one, so they were trying.

“But, I had to buy myself out although Portsmouth did give me the money back. They were in the old Second Division, wanting to test myself at the highest level.”

The move turned out to be a fantastic piece of business for Pompey with Whittingham going on to become the club’s all-time record goal-scorer.

In the 1992-93 season he hit an extraordinary 42 league goals in 46 games at what is today the Championship and 47 goals in all competitions, breaking a record which had stood for 66 years.

But today, Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is on course of surpass him having scored 34 league goals already this season.

To hear Guy talk about his memories of playing for Yeovil, a prolific career which saw him go on to play for Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Wolves, and his thoughts on the Glovers’ meteoric rise and fall, don’t miss our latest GloversPast.

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Alex Bradley in conversation with manager Darren Sarll.

Yeovil Town midfielder Alex Bradley spoke to the BBC after the Glovers’ 1-1 draw away at Maidenhead and he said it was disappointing not to get the win on his return to the side.

The former Finland youth international was making his first league start of the season and played 87 minutes before being replaced by Adi Yussuf.

“I really enjoyed being back playing with the lads, just disappointed we haven’t come away with all three points”

“I’ll play wherever I’m told to play, when the manager wants me to play… I feel fit, I feel really fit, the gaffer has got me doing extra running and extra training so yeah, I do feel fit and tonight I felt good out there”

The game saw no fewer than three goals ruled out for various reasons, two for the Glovers; and Bradley says there’s more to come from this side.

“We’ve got to want more, we’ve got to keep pushing as a team and as a squad, we can’t be satisfied with coming here tonight and going away with a point because these are the places we have to come and look to get all three points”

With Chesterfield on the horizon, Bradley is adamant the Glovers will be out for the win, with confidence remaining high.

“I think every game we have to go into with confidence, if you don’t you’ve already lost the game, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing – top of the league or bottom of the league – the objective has to be the same, to be going to game to try and win”

He also praised the return of Charlie Lee as assistant manager in his first league game in his new role, saying Lee is a “great bloke” and it’s “great to have him back”.

Bradley and Yeovil head to Derbyshire to face Chesterfield this Saturday at 17:20.

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Ben Barclay
Pic: YTFC YouTube

On loan Glovers defender Ben Barclay is pleased with the point gained against Eastleigh but hopes the side will build on their defensive resoluteness to win more games.

Speaking to BBC Somerset, he said;

“After Tuesday night’s result, we had to come here and prove a point to ourselves, to the manager, to the fans, we owed it to them. We were a bit soft on Tuesday, so we performed and come (away with) a clean sheet”

The visitors did see off a late scare with Eastleigh nearly grabbing the points at the death, but Barclay was happy to have made the last ditch block

“You see it in the programme every week, we discuss it in the changing room ‘would you rather a last minute goal or a last minute block’ us defenders always say a last minute block that was nice”

There was plenty of praise for both Luke Wilkinson beside him and the returning Fela Olomola on his 3rd debut, but there was an admittance that the focus needs to be on scoring a few more.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve had three clean sheets out of five, which is not bad… we’ve shown real control today, in the territory, as a centre half I’ve spent most of the game on the half way line. We just need a bit of quality in the final third and the goals will start coming.”

Barclay has 4 more games with the Glovers (including the SPC on Tuesday) before his initial one month loan spell comes to an end.