Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper has said he is hoping to strengthen his squad within the next week having seen them go down to a 2-1 defeat at home to Bristol Rovers at Huish Park on Saturday.
The Glovers took the lead courtesy of an own goal from visiting goalkeeper Brad Young after 21 minutes and impressed before the break, but second half goals from former loanee Kofi Shaw and substitute Luke Thomas sealed the win for the League Two side.
Cooper fielded five trialists with two new faces in the starting line up, Birmingham City Under-21s captain Byron Pendleton and Bristol City Under-21s’ goalkeeper Josey Casa-Grande both completing the full 90 minutes on their first outings.
Ex-Rovers’ striker Jevani Brown, who has been with Yeovil all pre-season, started the match with midfielders Luke McCormick, who was released from The Memorial Stadium in the summer, and Teo Kurtaran appearing off the substitutes’ bench.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins, Cooper said: “We are still trying to build the squad, we are probably two or three players short. We are still looking and hopefully we can get that done in the next week. I do not want to be going in to the last week of pre-season when we are still trying to put everything together, but I have said we are trying to get as much quality as we can and if we have to wait a little bit to do that, that is what we will do because it is a long season.”
Asked specifically about the right-back position which has been vacant since the departure of Michael Smith at the end of last season and an impressive, the boss added: “We played with wing-backs today, whether they are a right-back or a right wing-back, it does not matter as long as they are a good player. We are on the look out for a couple of loans to give us the squad numbers, but we still have a couple of permanent (signings) we want to do. I am speaking with (Executive Chairman) Stuart (Robins) and (owner) Prabhu (Srinivasan) to hopefully get that done.”
In a joint statement published by the club on Friday, the owner and Executive Chairman said that they expected more players to arrive following the signings of striker Tahvon Campbell, winger James Daly and defender Kyle Ferguson.
The statement said: “We completely understand some of the frustration around the perceived lack of transfer activity – but please be assured, that Mark and his coaching team are working tirelessly to bring in the right players.
“Our approach this summer has been considered and deliberate. It’s about quality over quantity – building a competitive, energetic squad that fits Mark’s vision. So far, we’ve welcomed Kyle Ferguson, Tahvon Campbell and James Daly, and we expect more to follow.”
The statement went on to talk about the decision to move first-team training from South Somerset to the SGS Wise Academy, north of Bristol, which a reply to a supporter question on social media suggested has taken up a chunk of the budget available for to the manager.
Asked about his impression of the new training facilities, Cooper said that moving the training base had helped his recruitment this summer.
He said: “I have said all along, if there was a facility like (the SGS WISE Academy) in Yeovil, we would be training in Yeovil, but there is not. That is the long-term aim of the club, but at the minute we have got a good base. It helps our recruitment, we have got some players through the door that we would never have got if we were in Yeovil.”
Following an impressive first half display which saw Pendleton shine in the right back position, where recruitment is certainly needed, the Glovers struggled to cope with Bristol Rovers after the break.
Trialist McCormick and Josh Sims replaced Daly and Brett McGavin at the interval whilst their opponents replaced Young with first-choice keeper Jed Ward and summer signing Ryan Howley. As ever with pre-season their were multiple changes from both sides through the second half – see our match report for full details.
On his side’s performance, Cooper added: “I thought we were really good in the first half, but when you make changes it disrupts your rhythm and we lost our way a little bit in the second half. They bring on some really good players in the second half and they had an added zest to it, but we have to take the positives from it – a good day, a good crowd, the Thatcher’s Stand was in full voice, so it was really positive. We are a week behind Bristol Rovers in terms of preparation and that probably showed in the end.”
A crowd of 2,236, including more than 500 Rovers’ fans, turned out for the fixture which was played in honour of Marcus Stewart, the legendary striker who played for both clubs, and to raise money and awareness of Motor Neurone Disease.
The former frontman was diagnosed with the condition in 2022 shortly before he took up a role as Head of Player Development at Huish Park which he held until May.
Asked for an appreciation of Stewart, Cooper said: “He just takes the micky out of me constantly, but he is a top bloke, a top player and the game is going to miss him. He is moving away from the area to be nearer his family and it is going to tough not to come in and having to make him coffee and have him tell you how bad the coffee is. Sometimes when you have had a defeat, he is able to lift the mood and we are going to miss that.”
With no midweek fixture until the next pre-season friendly, a trip to take on National League South Bath City, managed by former Yeovil player and manager, Darren Way next weekend, Cooper said he plans to up the intensity in training.
He said: “I have told the players whatever bumps they have, they need to be ready to run hard on Tuesday because our intensity will go up over the next two weeks. We have broken ourselves in to (pre-season training) quite nicely and tried to make sure we do not have too many bumps and bruises, but they have got to be ready to run hard next week and for the weeks after.”
