Defender Morgan Williams is in contention to be involved for Yeovil Town in this weekend’s home match with Oldham Athletic.
Manager Mark Cooper has confirmed the former Coventry City player has been in full training all week and said the Huish Park coaching staff would make a decision whether to risk him for the National League Premier Division fixture. Williams has not featured since the 1-1 draw at Dagenham & Redbridge at the start of February.
He is one of a number of injury question marks in the squad with full-back Alex Whittle suffering a nasty cut on his head during last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Altrincham, which saw both him and midfielder Charlie Cooper (tendonitis) withdrawn after just 28 minutes.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins on Thursday, Cooper said: “Morgan Williams is back in full training this week, so we have a decision to make about whether he has done enough or are we putting him at risk by playing him in maybe putting him on the pitch at some point. That is something we are assessing.
“Alex Whittle had a really bad cut on his forehead and we are not sure whether he will be able to play. It is certainly going to open up the cut again, but amazingly we did not even get a foul or a free-kick. Charlie has been struggling with tendonitis in both of his Achilles tendons, so it is a difficult one. We are not blessed with lots of players so we will have to see how that goes.”
The boss also gave an update on the fitness of striker Aaron Jarvis, who has not featured since suffering a hamstring injury in mid-January, adding: “If Aaron Jarvis is going to play any part (this season) it will possibly be the last two games off the bench.”
Oldham arrive in Somerset looking to arrest indifferent form which has seen them lose their last two games including a 2-1 defeat at home to Woking on Tuesday night.
The Glovers went down to a 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture in Greater Manchester in September when a goal from top scorer Mike Fondop was the difference between the two sides in a match which saw Cooper sent off for his protests to the referee.
He said: “It was a tight game up there. They are in a little bit of indifferent form and I think they have a few injuries, but they have really good players and a manager who knows how to get out of the league and they will be in the play-offs, it just comes down to which position they finish in. They are a massive club, probably the biggest in the division, so we are expecting a tough game. We have to be concentrated on what we do, be really difficult to play against like we have been in the last few weeks and hope we get a bit of luck.”
One familiar face in the visiting squad will be former Glovers’ captain Matt Worthington who switched the South West for the North West at the end of the January having clocked up his 250th appearance for Yeovil.
Cooper said: “It will be great to see Worthy again, he was a great servant for us. He has been in and out of the team, but played the other night. He has got himself a good move to a big club, so we cannot begrudge that.”
The manager was also asked about how his planning was going to retain and build a squad for next season with the off-the-field uncertainty caused by the decision of chairman Martin Hellier to step down in recent weeks. The local businessman has declared his ambition to sell the club.
Cooper said: “When you realise what is going on above, it is very difficult to do any planning and that needs to be resolved before we get to that stage. At the moment it is just about everyone doing as well as they can to put themselves in a good position whether that is here or elsewhere.“