The loss of captain Jake Wannell from the Yeovil Town defence will be a “big blow” for the Glovers, according to manager Mark Cooper.
The central defender is out of today’s match with Southend United at Huish Park with a calf injury which was only confirmed yesterday, leaving the boss not enough time to bring in any defensive cover.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah ahead of kick-off, Cooper said: “We were not aware that he had an issue until Thursday when he said his calf was tight, but we were told he was going to be fit. But then (Friday) morning he said he was too sore to play, so we are then scrambling to try and get another central defender in but there was not enough time to do that. It is a big blow for us, but Dom Bernard has 200 Football League games who comes in and has to do a job for us.
“You do not keep picking a team for the sake of it, if the players are not performing, that is what you have a squad for. Now the players are starting to perform and give everything and, if they do that, you can put up with the odd sub-standard performance, but with Jake not playing the players around him have to do a job and a bit more and make up for (Jake’s absence).”
The manager was asked to remember the 1-0 win at Southend United when he was unhappy about the post-match “shenanigans” after an ill-tempered match which saw the Shrimpers’ on loan keeper Zach Jeacock red carded after half-an-hour and manager Kevin Maher sent to the stands.
Cooper was complimentary about today’s opponents who are unbeaten their last three league matches and sit two points above the Glovers in the National League Premier Division table, in particular right-back Gus Scott-Morris who has scored 14 times this season.
The Yeovil manager said: “They are a good team with good players who are well coached. Both teams are set up right and it should be a good game.”
On Scott-Morris, he added: “A lot of them have been from set-pieces, so (left back) Alex Whittle will have to make sure he stops him.“