Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper has said his players need to go and put right what went wrong on the opening day of the National League South season as they prepare for their first home match this weekend.
The Glovers take on St Albans City at Huish Park having gone down to a 1-0 defeat at Hemel Hempstead Town seven days before and Cooper said he knew that the performance was “miles away” from where it needed to be.
He confirmed that striker Jake Hyde and captain Josh Staunton will both be available again this weekend having missed out due to the artificial surface at Hemel, but midfielder Jordan Stevens has returned to training this week but is not expected to be available until next weekend’s home game against Maidstone United.
Speaking on Thursday, Cooper said: “The players were very frustrated on Monday but once we got Monday out of the way, there were no long faces, but that is gone. We have got to hit back now and show what we are really about.
“We were miles away from where we need to be and I know that and the work this week has been trying to refocus and get the boys in to a place where they can have a platform to showcase their ability.
“The process is the same, we want to attack, get balls in the box and score goals because of the attacking threats we have got. We picked so many wrong selections of passes and crosses last week that it was always going to be difficult for us to score.”
The boss said he wanted to see more attacking intent from his team and made several references to the fact that Hyde would be available for selection against St Al bans, who reached the division’s play-off final last season.
Against Hemel, Cooper started with Rhys Murphy,Frank Nouble and Jordan Maguire-Drew in the forward line with on loan Bristol City youngster Olly Thomas and Jordan Young coming off the bench.
The manager added: “We have some real attacking intent available. Jake Hyde is available and we need to find a way to get all of them in the team because I want to attack and score goals. I would rather get beat 4-3 than try and win 1-0.
“I have to try and get as many of them as I can on the pitch, so whatever we do we will be organised and ready to go.”
He told our man Ian Perkins: “In pre-season we have been really powerful at set pieces and the (Hemel) goalkeeper caught eight under his crossbar, so someone is not doing their job and we are not attacking the ball.
“Some of the deliveries were really good and that is something we have been working on and something we will continue to work on.”
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.
Cooper insisted he had no concerns about goalkeeper Will Buse after his error gifted Hemel Hempstead striker Joe Iaciofano the winning goal last weekend.
The young keeper was involved in a mix-up with wing-back Zac Bell and his clearance hit the forward and rebounded in to the net.
The manager said: “Busey just has to clear it out of the ground, he’s not really under pressure, but he’s a young goalkeeper.
“We’re at home (on Saturday), he’s a local boy, he has to thrive off that. We back him and we will look after him but we are confident that he will be fine and there will be no issues and no repercussions. I have confidence that he will be fine.”
Cooper admitted that the ability of supporters to drink inside stadiums at National League South level brought an additional pressure to his players.
The game at Hemel Hempstead was marred by off-the-field incidents among Yeovil supporters with chairman Martin Hellier having to apologise for “embarrassing” himself after antics following “hurtful” comments directed at him by some fans.
The boss said: “If you are going to win anything, you need a good home record and the fans can help with that.
“The added issue is that fans can drink in the stadium which can add a different pressure because if they are not happy and they have had too many, they will definitely let you know. That is another bit we have to deal with.”