Player interviews (Page 7)

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Captain Wilkinson

Yeovil Town defender Luke Wilkinson has said that he is desperate to add to his goal tally for the Glovers to take the pressure off the forwards and to boost his own performances.

Speaking to the Gloverscast before the Eastleigh game Wilko said it had been too long since he last found the net himself.

“I don’t think I’ve gone this long in my career without a goal, I’m a bit disappointed in myself actually. I think it’s so important, especially from set plays because we get so many throughout the season, we need to start capitalising on them”

“Some of the deliveries we get are absolutely brilliant, but we’re not getting on the end of them.”

“That’s a massive thing, the gaffer has brought it up as well, and we need to start attacking these set plays a lot better and making the most of them.

Wilkinson, who’s last league goal came over a year ago – the last gasp winner against Torquay on January 2nd 2021 – simply said “fingers crossed” with a wry smile when asked if he fancies breaking that streak at the weekend.

There was plenty of praise for Ben Barclay who has come into the club on a short term deal with all eyes on Eastleigh, Wilkinson said he would be trying to add their formidable front line, including new recruit Brett Pitman to the long list of strikers who the Glovers have kept quiet.

“It builds confidence as a defensive unit against these players whoare banging in goals left, right and centre every other week, then they come up against us and we keep them quiet, it obviously does build confidence… it’s not just us at the back either, the midfielders work so hard when we are in the defencive shape and obviously Granty (Smith) behind us as well”

 

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Yeovil Town captain Josh Staunton.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town midfielder, Josh Staunton spoke to the club’s YouTube channel after the defeat to Wealdstone saying the game was a “really hard one to look back on“.

Staunton was speaking to club media manager Sam Collard after the game and admitted it’ll take some time to get over a defeat of that nature.

He said: “We looked completely disjointed probably from start to finish, the goals were very bad timing for us, we found ourselves in the game, but we weren’t playing well, we had no harmony”

“Second half, we mounted and effort, but to be honest, we let everyone down.”

Speaking out conceding just before the half time interval, Staunton said they had no one other to blame but themselves.

He said: “We were probably the masters of our own downfall, we were guilty for the two goals we conceded were poor goals and to be honest, they just summed the performance up.”

Looking forward, he admitted that it won’t be easy, but that the team knew what they had to do as they prepare for a trip to Eastleigh on Saturday.

Staunton added: “This will be a hard one to let go, because we were so devoid of any flow or creative spark, it makes it very difficult to galvanise a group… we’ve got to focus on the next one and hopefully we can move on from this, find some sort of flow, some sort of rhythm to our play and push forward.”

 

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Dale Gorman.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town midfielder Dale Gorman says the 0-0 result against Solihull Moors was a fair result after two solid defensive sides kept each other at arms length.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall he said that the Glovers knew what was coming and dealt with it well.

He said: “It was a tough battle out there, to be fair, we knew what they would bring today and we matched it throughout”

“I thought we were very accountable today, each and every one of us.”

“These games are going to be tight games and one goal could win them, Charlie (Wakefield) has had that chance in the first half, we’ve had a few sniffs and on the other side we’ve made some terrific blocks and I think a 0-0 is a fair outcome of the game”

The Northern Irishman was asked about the performance of the returning Lawson D’Ath who played over an hour replacing the injured Jordan Barnett and was confident that with a little extra quality that draws will turn into wins soon.

He said: “I thought we did well, that’s three game where we are unbeaten and that’s a clean sheet against a side that’s up there and that’s something you can’t throw away easy”

“At this stage of the season, when you’re playing teams above you, you can’t lose to them or the gap gets too big, we took a point, we move on to Tuesday.”

“Them 0-0’s will hopefully turn into 1-0’s, 2-0’s hopefully, it’s important we didn’t lose today… we’ve got our game in hand on Tuesday, away at Wealdstone, we need to back up today with a win there to put some pressure on the teams above us.”

The Glovers travel to Wealdstone this Tuesday, with the hosts 20th in the table having not played since the 29th January and with only two wins over bottom side Dover in the last 10 league games.

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Glovers’ ‘keeper Grant Smith

Yeovil Town Goalkeeper, Grant Smith has praised the defensive unit that has proved so strong this season.

The Glovers have conceded just 25 goals during the league season, one of the best defensive records in the division.

speaking ahead of the Solihull game, the a Number 1 was proud of the team’s efforts.

“We don’t concede many chances, a lot of the games where we’ve kept clean sheets, I’ve barely had a save to make, we work very hard on that.”

‘Shakira Hips’ Smith said that whilst he used to set himself targets for clean sheets that was no longer the case as he preferred to keep his focus elsewhere it did admit to the Gloverscast, he’s been known to celebrate a save like a goal and enjoys a scrappy 1-0 win more than most.

“For a goalkeeper, nothing beats a 1-0 win, everyone would love to win four or five-nil and have an easy win, but when you walk off the pitch at the end of the game having dug in for that last 30 minutes, they’ve been throwing absolutely everything at you and you’ve kept a clean sheet, it makes you feel like you’ve done a god job”

“That one on one save in the Stevenage game, I did celebrate it like a goal, I think it comes down to an important save at an important time, it wasn’t necessarily an unbelievable save, it was just an important moment in that game.”

Smith praised Luke Wilkinson for his consistency, Morgan Williams for his flexibility in different roles and Ben Barclay for the way he’s settled into the side but finished by saying that the side were up for the challenge of keeping Solihull’s front men out.

“It’s a good challenge, everyone wants to challenge themselves against the best in the league… But we take it for face value and give them all the respect”

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Morgan Williams. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Glovers’ defender Morgan Williams has said that the team are looking forward to renewing rivalries with W*ymouth on Tuesday night.

Speaking to the BBC after the Weekend’s game with Woking he said that he couldn’t wait for the game.

“We’re happy to get the three points (against Woking) but we can focus on the big game on Tuesday night”

“I’m really excited, hopefully we do the performance we did today and get the three points.”

“Three points every week would be massive and beating W*ymouth would be massive for us”

Williams, who has played in just about every position across the back four says the team are taking the rest of the season game by game and is willing to play wherever the team needs in the hunt for the next three points.

Yeovil Town host the Seagull Botherers this Tuesday with a 7.45 kick off at Huish Park.

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Dan Moss. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Former Yeovil Town loan defender, Dan Moss has told the Gloverscast he will be forever grateful for his time at Huish Park and would keep an eye out for their results and cheer on his former club.

In an exclusive chat with Ben and Ian (which you can listen to below) he said: “I think I’m a Yeovil fan for life now. Even on Saturday, the game got called off for Leyton Orient so I was sat in my room and I had the Yeovil game on the radio. I’ll definitely be watching Yeovil’s results in the future.”

He spoke of the amount of learning he did whilst with the club, benefiting from his first loan spell in more areas that just on the pitch.

Dan Moss, Josh Staunton and Joe Quigley defend vs Weymouth
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

Now at Leyton Orient in the EFL he said how he’d look back on his time at Yeovil throughout his career and would be forever grateful for the support of the Glovers faithful.

“I can’t say a bad word about Yeovil, I’ve loved every single minute of it, what it has taught me as a player, I cant put it into words. My first senior loan, I’ve learned so much”

 You can hear our chat with Dan on the player below and in all the usual places you get the Gloverscast. We chat Weymouth FA Cup penalty shenanigans, having half of H̶o̶l̶l̶y̶w̶o̶o̶d̶ Wrexham baying for his blood as well as those huge FA Cup ties against Stevenage and Bournemouth.

All the best at Leyton Orient and beyond, Dan from everyone at the Gloverscast.

 

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Grant Smith. Picture c/o Mike Kunz

Glovers’ goalkeeper Grant Smith spoke to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins following Yeovil Town‘s 2-1 defeat at Southend United and said that the game just didn’t get going for the visitors.

“We struggled with their shape, we couldn’t really adapt to certain things they were going, we tried to change it a little bit, but we just couldn’t get going”

The former Chesterfield stopper was back in goal after a two match ban and said on a personal level it was good to be back, but that the team was focused on putting right a poor run of results.

“I think the main thing for us is trying to keep our heads, trying to keep it at 1-0, when we keep it a 1-0 we are always in the game, one chance, like today you never know what can happen, it can quickly change.

“When it goes 2-0 and 3-0, sometimes it’s over.

“Bringing Quigz (Joe Quigley) & Reubs (Reuben Reid) on we wanted the ascendency to go in our favour, but unfortunately we got caught on the break… that’s football

“We gave it a good push at the end, but it wasn’t enough

“Every game we play, we want to win and come Saturday (the FA Trophy match at home to Needham Market), it’s a big, big chance to put it right.”

The ‘keeper said he had only himself to blame for his enforced absence recently and that he’d learn from the experience of missing out on the big games and ended by saying he and the side were “never too high when we win and never too low when we lose”

I’m sure Gloverscast listeners will have spotted that phrase used once or twice.

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Dale Gorman scores his penalty vs Weymouth
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

Yeovil Town midfielder Dale Gorman has been speaking ahead of the Glovers’ FA Cup tie vs Bournemouth and says that a quick start could be a good way to get at their Championship opponents.

“We look to start every game fast, and that’s been key to our success recently.”

Yeovil have scored a divisional best six goals in the National League this season, conceding just one in the league during the opening 15 minutes of games so far, whilst the Cherries are yet to find the net away from home in the first quarter of an hour on in the 2nd tier.

“It might be a bit different (vs Bournemouth) with the way they set up, we don’t know that until we encounter it tomorrow, but look, it’s something that we’ve talked about and something we’ve got into a routine of doing over the past two or three months”

“So, we will be looking to start fast tomorrow and be focused and be ready to do our jobs”

Yeovil have scored a divisional best six goals in the National League this season, conceding just one in the league during the opening 15 minutes of game, 

Gorman said that returning to working under Darren Sarll means he’s now enjoying his football again and is proud to play for a ‘great club‘ like Yeovil.

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Josh Staunton.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town midfielder Josh Staunton fronted up to the media after the 3-0 Boxing Day defeat to Torquay United and couldn’t hide his disappointment  at the result or performance.

He told BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins: “We weren’t anywhere near our best today, but we were still competing for probably 65 minutes, and then we’re disappointed at the ending, because we’ve been finishing games so strongly, the way we’ve come to the end of the run is really disappointing.

“I think it’s important as a group, we don’t feel like it’s the end of the world, it gives us a chance to start a new run. We’ve got a chance to put it right after New Year’s Day”

When asked about the impact of Sonny Blu Lo-Everton’s red card on 64 minutes with the game still goalless, he said the team could have responded better.

He added: “I think that’s where we have to take a bit more responsibility, remain calm, I think we lost our composure and that’s something which we haven’t done the last two months even when we’ve faced a bit of adversity, we’ve stood up to it, and today we didn’t.

“We let the red card (for Lo-Everton) really affect us, not in terms of numerical advantage, but in terms of mentality on the pitch. It’s something which we can’t allow to happen again.”

Staunton was questioned on what he and the side would take away from the defeat and he was adamant that the team would be stronger for it.

“You learn from every loss and every win, and unfortunately today, we’ve learnt the hard way. It’s a good lesson for us as a group, in terms of – we went behind against Woking but managed to come back – but we just lost our composure and lost our cool and it just goes to show, at this level, you can’t afford to have those days.

“Even for 65 minutes we weren’t at our best, but still competing, and we were in the game. We didn’t agree with things on the pitch and it’s cost us today. It’s important we learn those lessons that not everything is going to go our way, but we remain as a group and stand up and face them head on.”

Attention turned to the reverse fixture with Torquay again in the Glovers’ firing line, this time at Huish Park next Sunday.

“We take every game on it’s merit, but it (playing Torquay again so quickly) adds a bit of fuel to the fire, because, just like when we played Weymouth (in the FA Cup) we’ve got a point to prove.

“It’s disappointing, we haven’t got the game on the 28th to have a quick rebound, so we have got to hang fire for a week, but it gives us chance to right some wrongs in training, work hard and get back to what we have been doing previously.

“The most important thing is that we don’t get too down after today, because over a campaign you have ups and downs and today, we’ve had one of those downs.”

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Adi Yussuf in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf has spoken to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins following the Glovers’ 3-1 win over Woking in the FA Trophy.

Yeovil, with Yussuf’s second half brace to thank, move into the fourth round of the Trophy and extend their unbeaten run to 12 first team fixtures.

The forward said the manager had a few words at half time which spurred the side into action.

“The team are doing well at the minute, the gaffer’s speech at half time, motivated us to kick on, he reminded us about the start at Dover (Yeovil went 1-0 down inside 2 minutes), he reminded us to push us on, to do what we’re good at which is run, tackle and that’s what we’re good at”

“We didn’t do that first half, but the gaffer’s half time speech – we came out second half a completely different team”

Yussuf now moves onto six goals across the League, FA Cup and Trophy games of which three have come in his last two, the Tanzanian said he knew the goals would come once he was at peak fitness.

“I’ve got absolutely no doubt about the goals, I just wanted to get fitter, so I could do what the gaffer has asked me for, I’ve never doubted myself about scoring, I’ve always believed I would score”

“You can’t buy fitness, it’s the one thing you can’t cheat and I know the hard work I’ve put in, the dedication, the sacrifice I’ve put in, I always know it is going to pay off”

Adi Yussuf celebrates vs Weymouth
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

With four trophies still up for grabs and a small squad, Yussuf – like so many others – has pointed to an immense team spirit in the camp as a reason for the recent success.

“The team bonding is probably the best I’ve seen, and every time we’ve had a team bonding like this at every other club I’ve been at, we’ve always had success, I’ve got absolutely no doubt we are going to be a success this season.”

“I’m a big believer in hard work, dedication will always pay off, no doubt, and self belief, everyone has got to believe we can do it…”

“The way we train, everyone is going to be ready. I’ve never been at a club where it’s that intense, every single day.

“On a Friday, it’s like a Monday, that’s how intense it is, anyone who comes in, everyone is putting a tackle in, every single day, the gaffer demands a lot from us, it’s only going to show on the pitch.”

Yussuf finished off his post-match chat by looking forward to local derbies vs Torquay and W*ymouth over the festive period, but he was adamant the side had ‘enough in the locker’ to keep this run going.

The fourth round draw of the FA Trophy will be announced on Monday 20th at 1pm with games played on Saturday 15th January 2022.