Manager Mark Cooper will take nothing for granted as he takes his Yeovil Town side to Chesham United determined not to become the victim of an FA Cup giant-killing this weekend.
The boss was in the stands in Buckinghamshire as the National League South side booked their place in the competition’s fourth qualfiying round with a 4-0 win over Bishop’s Cleeve in a replay on Tuesday night.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah ahead of the tie, Cooper said: “I enjoyed the game, it was a competitive game, Bishop’s Cleeve had some chances but Chesham were good. They are two leagues above Bishop’s Cleeve and I think that showed in the end, they have some good players that we came up against last year in the National League South, so we are expecting a tough game.
“The rules of the FA Cup are that you cannot take any team lightly, you have to go there and play well. If we turn up and think (this is going to be easy) we are going to be in trouble. We have done the same amount of preparation for this game as we have any other game. They are not that many places below us in the football pyramid, so we have to be right at it and we have to play really well to win.”
He added: “We want to pay full respect to Chesham, they have got through some rounds to get to this stage and we have to respect that. I would not disrespect them by giving people minutes for the sake of it, we are going to pick the strongest team we can. We want to get to the third round and pull a Premier League team and we have to dream, but I am sure Chesham are doing the same. They got promoted last year, they are brilliant, lovely people and they got me a cup of tea and a bit of cake the other night, so we will give them our full respect.”
The Glovers’ boss has vowed to play his strongest team and hopes to have full-backs Alex Whittle and Michael Smith available for the game. Whittle missed last weekend’s 1-0 home win over Dagenham and Redbridge with a shoulder injury suffered in the goalless draw at Sutton United two-and-a-half weeks ago, whilst Smith came off at half-time against Dagenham.
Cooper confirmed Whittle has trained this week whilst Smith had a scan on a hamstring injury and, if the results came back clear, he would be available for the Cup tie. He is also hoping to have forward Harvey Greenslade in the squad for the first time since he suffered a shoulder injury at the end of August.
Striker Aaron Jarvis missed last weekend with concussion trained on Thursday and the Glovers are waiting to see if he suffers any ill effects before deciding whether he is available to face Chesham. Cooper said that the striker was working through the FA’s concussion protocols – you can hear him explain them in the video on the club’s YouTube channel, see below.
One definite change from the side which started the win over Dagenham will be Dylan Morgan who is cup tied having played in this year’s competition’s earlier rounds whilst on loan at Weston-super-Mare. Fellow loanees goalkeeper Will Buse, defender Jordan Thomas and full-back Corey Koerner are also cup tied, but were unlikely to feature at this stage even if they were not.
There was no question in Thursday’s press conference about whether Yeovil’s own loanees, goalkeeper Ollie Wright (Southampton), striker Ciaran McGuckin (Rotherham United), wideman James Plant (Port Vale), would be allowed to play by their parent clubs. One assumes Wright’s appearance before the media on Thursday means he is available, but goalscorer McGuckin and Plant were both influential in the win over Dagenham.
If you ever wondered what playing in the FA Cup means, Cooper was able to remember his first match in the competition. It also happened to be his first professional start in the second round of the competition for Exeter City against Maidstone United in December 1989, he recalls scoring with a header in a 1-1 draw with the Grecians winning the replay four days later to make the third round. Ironically Maidstone had put Yeovil out in the previous round.
On the competition, the Glovers’ boss said: “I grew up in an era when you were watching the television coverage at 9am when the whole build-up to the final started. There were interviews with players in the hotels, it was terrific and you would be mesmerised by it from 9am until 7pm – and then you would get your ball and go and try and pretend you had just played in the game.
“At our level it can be the lifeblood of a football club in terms of the revenue it brings. The further you progress the more money you get and there is always that dream of pulling Manchester United or one of the other big boys which can transform the fortunes of your club for the future, that is why everyone is desperate to have a good run in the FA Cup. It would be nice if we could be sat here in January talking about an away day at Old Trafford, but we have got some work to do starting with a really good team on Saturday.”