Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper believes the return of winger James Plant will bring added depth to his squad as they prepare for a busy Bank Holiday weekend.
The Port Vale youngster made his second return to Huish Park this week and was unavailable for the 2-1 home win over Brackley Town on Wednesday night, but will be available for the trip to Braintree Town tomorrow and the visit of Gateshead on Monday.
Cooper also confirmed that captain Jake Wannell will be available again for selection having served a one-match suspension for his red card in the defeat at Forest Green Rovers.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins from the club’s training facility in Bristol, the manager said he was not expecting to be without any other players for the weekend journey to Essex.
He said: “We do not know yet, we have got to train yet (on Friday). We have one or two bumps and bruises, but it will be the same squad as the other night with the additions of Jake Wannell and James Plant. We spoke in the summer that our recruitment would be late and maybe in to the season, we have to wait to get players like James Plant in, and it gives us a bit more depth to the squad. It is great to have (James) back and it is great to have Wanns available because he is a key part of what we do.”
The midweek win pushed Yeovil up to tenth in the early season standings whilst their opponents at the weekend went down 2-1 at Boreham Wood, a match which saw former Glovers’ loan defender Frankie Terry sent off, meaning he will be unavailable to face his old team-mates.
The Iron picked up an impressive 3-0 win over FC Halifax Town in their only other match at home so far this season on the opening day, before losing 3-0 at Hartlepool United last weekend.
Cooper said: “It is a great feeling to wake up with three points and in the top ten, so we want to win another game but there is an opposition to think about who I watched and have some good players. They played really well the other night at Boreham Wood, they have some good players, so it will be a tough game but we are looking forward to.
“Frankie Terry, who was obviously here last season, got sent off, so he will not be able to play, they have the big man up front, John Akinde, who is always a handful, so they have got some really good players throughout their team.
“Flippantly I am talking about being in the top ten, there are only three games gone. It is about keeping things in context, you have to wait until you have had ten games before you start to look too heavily at the league table. Braintree will be confident of having a good season because they have some good players, but so will we.”
The manager was also asked about the status of midfielder Jacob Maddox, who has barely featured since suffering a toe injury shortly after his arrival. It was pretty much the same update we got back in July when the manager was last asked.
Cooper said: “He had an injury last season when he came and then he did not have an operation on it until the end of June, which was strange, a couple of days before pre-season started, so he is still in a boot. I don’t think we will be seeing him for a couple of months yet.“