Manager Mark Cooper does not want his side to travel to Gateshead fearing a side he describes as “the purest football team” in the National League Premier Division.
The Glovers’ boss likened the quality of their opponents this weekend to that his own side enjoyed in National League South last season when a number of teams changed their tactics to try and nullify them at Huish Park.
Speaking ahead of the long trip to Tyneside this weekend, he said: “They are the most pure footballing team in the league in terms of the way they play, it’s really easy on the eye, they really test you and ask you questions and if you switch off for a minute, you are in trouble.
“If you ask their staff and players, teams try and do something different against them, similar to what we had here last year where people were looking to get a result against us.
“The biggest respect that Gateshead get is that everybody changes how they play against them. I really respect the way they play, they have some fabulous technical players, but so have we and we have to believe we can go there and cause them problems and hopefully win a really good game of football.”
Gateshead have seven points from their opening three games having picked up a comprehensive 5-1 opening day win over Ebbsfleet United before getting a 2-0 win at Woking in their second match. However, that game saw them lose captain midfielder Greg Olley to a horrific injury which undoubtedly affected the players as they were held to a 1-1 draw at FC Halifax Town on Tuesday night.
Yeovil have six points from their first three and make the 12-hour round journey off the back of consecutive victories over Braintree Town last weekend and then Ebbsfleet, who they beat 3-2 having been pegged back to 2-2 to after a kamikaze spell in the second half at Huish Park.
Cooper said: “We had a seven-minute spell where we lost control of the game. When you are 2-0, you know if we concede a goal we are on the back foot, and we went from being in total control for 65 minutes and then to ‘let’s get the ball as far away from our goal as we can’ and did not control the game.
“That bit us on the backside because the ball kept coming back at us for 5-6 minutes and they scored two goals. After that we regained our composure and we went on to win the game, but for those few minutes it was crazy. We have identified why and we move on from it.”
He added: “There’s always going to be a spell when your opponents have the upper hand and it comes down to how you manage in that situation. We had players running out of good positions, and we need the player next to them needs to say ‘get back here with me’ and be nice and solid. We need to control the game with the ball, but we started panicking.”
The Glovers went in to half-time 2-0 after a first half performance which oozed class at times and, at the heart of much which was good in an attacking sense, was new signing winger Josh Sims. Speaking ahead of the game, Cooper said the former Ross County and Southampton player would only play the first 45 minutes.
The manager said: “We are building his fitness up, but we are not too bothered about 90 minutes if he can give us a brilliant 60 minutes. What we don’t want to do is take liberties with him and rule him our for six weeks.”
He suggested there will be further game time for Sims at Gateshead on Saturday lunchtime and is hoping full-back Alex Whittle, who went off at half-time with a hamstring injury in midweek, will be available.
The boss was full of praise for match-winner Harvey Greenslade who shrugged off injury to come off the bench and bag the winner against Ebbsfleet.
Cooper said: “Harvey was touch and go, he did not train on Monday and he could not move on Tuesday morning. He had a fitness test at 4pm and the plan was always to give him 20 minutes because (Aaron Jarvis) had put in a great shift. Ebbsfleet sensed blood and I felt there would be opportunity in behind them.”