Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper said he gave minutes to those players he expects to start next weekend’s National League Premier opener as his side ran out 2-0 winners at Weston-super-Mare on Saturday.
Of the players who many would expect to be in contention for a starting place against Hartlepool United next weekend only Dylan Morgan and Charlie Cooper were missing.
Morgan at the match with strapping on his knee whilst Cooper did not feature in the 5-0 win at Buckland Athletic in midweek having come off with a tight hamstring in the win at Farnborough Town seven days ago.
Against Weston, Sam Pearson was replaced by Harvey Greenslade after 62 minutes, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton replaced captain Matt Worthington on 73 minutes and Jordan Thomas and Finn Cousin-Dawson replaced Alex Whittle and Jake Wannell with four minutes remaining.
That meant a full 90 minutes for summer signings striker Aaron Jarvis, who opened the scoring, and midfielder Brett McGavin – make of that what you will.
Speaking to the club’s YouTube channel after the match, the manager said: “With a week to go, the people that are getting close to start are getting close to 90 minutes, so it’s a case where some are going to be upset they are not getting the minutes they wanted, but we have to make some decisions.
“We have got a really competitive squad and they understand that if they don’t play the first game, there is a chance they will play the second game.
“We have to keep that harmony and unity which we have got, I thought they worked hard today and we controlled large parts of the game against a good Weston-super-Mare team.”
He added: “We wanted a really competitive, realistic game and we got that. We said wanted the players to treat this like a league game with our preparation, training leading up to the game, and the way we played.
“It is still pre-season so it gets a bit slow at times, but the pitch was really good, not as hot as it has been, ideal conditions for a competitive game.
“The way we want to play was clear today. I want to control the game as much as possible, I don’t want the game to be end of end, I don’t want there to be lots of chances in our box, I want it to be us that has the ball and we did that for large parts of the game.”
Jarvis showed great chest control to collect a Michael Smith ball in the 64th minute at Weston before finishing nicely across the keeper to give Yeovil the lead, before Lo-Everton settled proceedings with the second five minutes from time.
Cooper was impressed with Jarvis, who missed large parts of last season with Torquay United through injury, and the boss admitted they have managed the 26-year-old’s minutes during pre-season.
He said: “We have been careful to manage his minutes and get him through. If you asked their centre backs, they will tell you he is a handful because he roughed them up at times and scored a goal and that is why we brought him to the club.
“We want him to be that focal point at the top of the team who we can play balls longer at time up to him.”
There were no trialists involved in the squad with the left-backs who had been auditioning early in pre-season, Charlton Athletic academy graduate Jacob Roddy and ex-Portsmouth man Brandon Haunstrup, having moved on. Roddy signed for National League South side Oxford City whilst Haunstrup was on trial at Gateshead on Saturday.
Cooper reiterated that he is still hoping to strengthen his squad further with a his sights set on players who are still looking for a club on the eve of the start of the new season.
He said: “Once we get this late in to pre-season there are going to be players that do not get fixed up and they are the ones that we are targeting.
“If you look at last year, we got Michael Smith and Joe Day in really late on and they made a huge difference and we are looking for a signing of that quality and impact.”
The manager agreed a new three-year contract at Huish Park in the week with chairman Martin Hellier also announcing that there would be further budget made available to strengthen the squad.
Cooper said: “I’m really happy and thank the owner for having that faith. I have always had a really good relationship with him. We are aligned with where we want to do, we want to organically build the football club. It is going to be slowly, slowly and we want to be competitive.
“Once we had that alignment it was a no brainer for me, I am happy, I just want the football club to be united, everyone be together and the most importantly thing for me is that the fans, who have been amazing when I have been here, get behind the players, because it makes such a difference when they do.”
Next up, former Glovers’ boss Darren Sarll brings his Hartlepool United side to Huish Park for the National League Premier curtain-raiser.
On Saturday, the North East side signed former Yeovil loanee, goalkeeper Adam Smith, who had three spells on loan in Somerset during Sarll’s reign, and he was named among the substitutes for their 3-1 defeat at home to B side from Premier League Nottingham Forest.
Speaking after that game, Sarll called the performance his side’s “worst of pre-season” with the boss dropping a number of players expected to start at Huish Park.