Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper said he saw positive signs from his side as they went down to a 3-2 defeat against Cardiff City Under-21s in their first pre-season friendly at Huish Park.
The Glovers raced in to a 2-0 lead with goals from Josh Sims, playing at right wing-back, and striker Harvey Greenslade, but conceded immediately after going 2-0 up and then conceded two goals in the second half to go down to their first defeat of pre-season.
Speaking to the club’s social media after the game, Cooper said: “For large parts I was really impressed and happy, we went 2-0 up and were on the front foot and then we conceded at a horrible time straight after we scored the second goal. For 60 minutes, I was really pleased. We are still a bit behind, we have had three-and-a-half weeks (in to pre-season) and we have tried to make sure we try to reduce the risk to injury due to the pitches and the weather, so we need to increase the intensity now. You could see towards the end we were running on empty and we made the changes (with substitutions in the second half) and it disrupts the team and we end up on the wrong side of the result.
“We really wanted to be front foot and make it difficult for them to play their football which we did, we were quite aggressive which is where our goals came from and I thought we would go on to score a few more. But the goals we conceded was down to tiredness, when you are tired you can make poor decisions, but I am really pleased with large parts of that and I am sure we will be better for it (against Bristol Rovers in the next friendly) on Saturday.
“There were times tonight where we looked great, but then at 2-0 the ball comes through the middle of the pitch and they get an easy first goal. So there is loads that we can work on, but that is why we have these games, so we can have bits we can fine tune and I think when you get tired you start to make mistakes and we have to make sure that when we make mistakes it does not always lead to key chances and goals. If we make mistakes, we have to make sure we can see that pressure off, and that will come with the more work we do before the first league game.”
The manager also explained the decision to reduce the length of the playing surface at Huish Park. Ahead of kick-off there was widespread discussion among supporters about a sizeable gap which had sprung up at both ends of the pitch.
Cooper said: “We had the biggest pitch in the league by a long way, it was massive, so we wanted to make it a bit smaller to give us a chance to be a bit more front foot. We wanted to get ourselves in position, get in opposition team’s faces and that is it. It is so we can get a bit closer to the opposition.”
Defender Jake Wannell was an unused substitute against the young Bluebirds and striker Tahvon Campbell was absent from the squad, watching from the Huish Park stands. Cooper said both had been left out as a precaution, but he expected them to return for the visit of League Two side Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
He said: “We are probably two or three players short, but we are where we are. We were without (Jake) Wannell and Tav Campbell tonight which are big misses for us, so if you put them back in to (the squad) and if we can add another couple to give us some cover in key positions, I will be pretty content. Both flagged up little (injuries) from training yesterday, we probably could have played them but it is pre-season, so they have sat out tonight, they will rest tomorrow and they should be fine for training on Thursday and be available for Saturday. There is no point in them playing today, but they cannot miss too much because now our intensity really ramps up.”
One player who definitely will not feature in that match is midfielder Jacob Maddox, signed until the summer of 2026 in January, who has been missing since injuring his toe in the defeat at Rochdale shortly after his arrival.
Cooper said: “He had an operation at the end of June which was too late for me because it should have been done at the end of the season. He had an operation on his toe, but he will not be with us for a couple of months.”
A crowd of 1,226 was inside Huish Park for the match on Tuesday night and the club are hoping for a bumper attendance when Bristol Rovers visit on Saturday in the ‘Match for Marcus’, which will recognise the contribution of legendary striker Marcus Stewart, who played for both sides in an illustrious career.
The former frontman, who was on Cooper’s coaching staff until May, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2022 and the match will be used to raise awareness of the condition and raise funds for charities linked to it.
On the match, the Glovers’ boss added: “We will be playing against men on Saturday and they will be physical, so we are expecting they type of game we would encounter in the league. So that will be a really big step towards where we are trying to get to in terms of fitness and intensity for the (first league game on the) 9th August.”
No comments? I wonder why?
Not much can be said really. Maddox is another Cooper signing that has not worked out. Meanwhile he let Matt Worthington go halfway through the season as he supposedly he had a fantastic offer, only to become yet another ex glover to drop down a division and sign for Torquay. Worrying signs.