Cooper: Jordan young will be ‘touch and go’

Striker Jordan Young is “touch and go” for tomorrow’s visit from Southend United in front of the television cameras at Huish Park.

The 23-year-old has been missing for the past two games with a hamstring injury and is one of a number of fitness doubts for manager Mark Cooper going in to the weekend.

The boss said ruled out any chance of midfielder Jordan Stevens being fit and said a thigh injury sustained by recent arrival Callum Harriott in last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat to Bromley could keep him out.

Speaking on Thursday, Cooper said: “It’s about the group, it’s about that spirit, togetherness and desire and a group of players are desperate for Yeovil Town to retain its National League status.

“The core group have that connection and it’s down to me to galvanise that and make it more powerful. We might lack in quality, but we don’t lack in effort.

“There is a togetherness in the changing room and the players are desperate for the club to stay up. It’s all about what happens on the pitch, we can’t effect or control what goes on off the pitch, from my point of view I can only put the best team possible on the pitch and get them to have a right go in a Yeovil shirt.”

He confirmed striker Malachi Linton, who scored the equaliser in the 1-1 draw at FC Halifax Town a fortnight ago but was an unused substitute against Bromley, was available. The manager said: “Mal is okay, but we have a selection of forwards and we have to try and find a combination which leads to us scoring more goals.”

Asked about the number of injuries suffered by his squad, Cooper added: “There are reasons for it. We have found ourselves in a position where we are having to get players fit during matches because they can never replicate the tempo, speed and adrenaline of a match in training. Some players are going to break down, that is just nature.”

Following last weekend’s defeat both Cooper and captain Josh Staunton made it clear issues behind-the-scenes had been a major distraction and this week owner-in-waiting Matt Uggla revealed that former Tottenham Hotspur and QPR assistant manager Kevin Bond had joined the club as (we think) Director of Football.

There has been no statement made by the club since Uggla tweeted the arrival earlier in the week, but Bond has been meeting with various people at Huish Park this week.

Kevin Bond in the door what a man ???

— Matt Uggla (@matt_uggla) March 27, 2023

Asked about the news, Cooper said: “I can’t go in to that. That’s up to the club to answer that. It’s difficult because you see and hear what is going on, but it is important I try and protect the players because we all get things wrong. We will take some stick, but we only have the club’s best interests at heart and we will try our best to do the best job we can.“

In midweek, victories for Gateshead and Dorking Wanderers saw Yeovil drop in to the National League relegation places.

They now sit 21st, two points behind Gateshead, who are in FA Trophy semi-final action on Saturday, and five points behind Dorking, who travel to Dagenham & Redbridge at the weekend.

But, a midweek defeat for Aldershot Town and a draw for York City, who have both played two more games than the Glovers, means they are within striking distance as well.

Cooper said: “I think the results have dragged more teams in to it. Certain teams won but there are another couple of teams that lost that are bang in it, there’s more teams involved in the scrap to stay up than there was on Tuesday night. Look at Aldershot and York now, they are bang in trouble.

“We have got eight games, we want to win eight games, that is the challenge and hopefully we can get enough players fit to give us that lift.”

Asked about how he and his backroom staff had lifted the players who were booed off the pitch by the Huish Park crowd after the defeat to Bromley, Cooper said: “With good training, reinforcing messages that they can be good players, there is no point in me hammering the players and expecting them to run through brick walls on a Saturday.

“It is more arm around the shoulder, they are good people and we have to drain every last minute of ability out of them.

“We started really flat last weekend and that was a culmination of a number of things that have happened, but there’s no excuses, it’s about the players being the best version of what they can be when they cross that white line. We need to get at least eight or nine of the eleven to be right at it, last Saturday we had two or three.

“The intent is to out have two corners, a few shots and crosses in the first five minutes and not be 1-0 down, but that comes down to personal pride and concentrate. The players will be prepared and we hope we get good performances.”