Interim Yeovil Town boss Richard Dryden has said Tuesday night’s win at Solihull Moors has given his side a lift ahead of a tough test this weekend.
Big-spending York City are the visitors to Huish Park this weekend and Dryden believes the clean sheet and three points his side collected in midweek will give them a lift as they prepare to take on one of the favourites for the National League title.
The win followed two performances where the Glovers threw away leads in the 4-3 home defeat to Gateshead and the 3-2 loss at FC Halifax Town.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah on Thursday, Dryden said: “We obviously had questions about our defensive abilities after the last two games and that is not just the goalkeeper and the back three, it is the whole team. How we defended our box against Solihull was fantastic because we knew the ball was going to come in from long throws and corners, but we defended really well as a group. Coming in to the changing rooms after doing that was a really good atmosphere. There are always different ways to win a game, it is great to win 3-0 and sit back and relax, but the good thing was that everyone who was fit – apart from Matt Gould, the goalkeeper – came on and made a difference.”
York come in to the game unbeaten this season but actually one point below Yeovil in the table. The Minstermen have only played four matches this season, compared to the Glovers’ seven, due to the Women’s Rugby World Cup being played at their home stadium in recent weeks.
That early season form was enough for owners Matt and Julie-Anne Uggla, whose connections to Huish Park need little further explanation, to make the decision to sack manager Adam Hinshelwood around the same time Yeovil dispensed of the services of Mark Cooper.
However, they had a replacement lined up in the form of ex-Notts County and Wealdstone boss, Stuart Maynard, who will take charge of his first match this weekend.
Dryden said: “They are not going to be (in 19th place in the table) in 30 games time for certain and they have got some really good players. They have lost a good manager, but they have brought in a really good manager as well. They have added again, the frontline is good, a solid back three or four, they have good players but we are up for the fight and want to take our team to them as well. You have to respect every team you play, we have to have a game plan going forward and defensively. York will play a lot differently to how Solihull, so our game plans will change.”
The interim boss admitted it had been difficult for the players and coaching staff following the departure of Cooper at the end of last month. On Monday, owner Prabhu Srinivasan told supporters it would “take time” to appoint a new manager and vowed not to rush in to a decision, but the appearance of out of work bosses’ including ex-Hartlepool United manager Anthony Limbrick at Solihull on Tuesday suggest that there are options available to the Glovers.
Dryden said: “I have been in football long enough to know that someone has to take over whether that is someone coming in straight away or they leave it to the staff and at the moment they are leaving it to the staff, so we are just getting on with our jobs. The owner has been really good talking about calmness and we have been told the staff will stay which is good, because the first thing you think is ‘are we going to lose our jobs’, so it was good news that the job situation was secure and we can get on with our job. If someone else comes in, they do, and until then we will just do the best job we can.”
Dryden added there were “a few bumps and bruises” following the physical encounter at Solihull, one of which is presumably defender Kyle Ferguson who went off after taking a hefty whack to the knee, but the interim boss said he was optimistic he would have a similar squad to choose from against York.
He concluded: “You can see the confidence coming in to the lads. We know we can score goals and we know we can defend, it is just a case of getting that blend for every game. A big plus was keeping a clean sheet on Tuesday night and the goal now is to do that again on Saturday and stamp our authority when we go forward.“