Yeovil Town striker Jake Hyde has played down concerns that an injury had kept him out of the club’s past three pre-season friendly matches.
The 33-year-old, who signed following his release by Wrexham in the summer, missed the wins against Tiverton Town, Dorchester Town and AFC Totton with a reported back injury, but has said his absence was down to “management” of his body more than an injury.
He was speaking after scoring his third goal in as many pre-season matches bagging the second in a 2-0 home win over League Two side Newport County on Tuesday night.
Asked about his absence, Hyde said: “I am building up to be fit. I am just maintaining little things, so I am just sort of coming through that now and feeling stronger every day. It is more about management than an injury, so I am feeling good and getting better every day.”
The frontman found the net after 74 minutes against Newport, having lifted a penalty kick over the crossbar nine minutes earlier, but said he would not let the miss knock his confidence.
Hyde said: “I have taken a lot of penalties down the years and I have scored more than I have missed, so you just have to get on with the game as best you can. Things like that won’t bother me, as long as when the next one comes along you put it in the back of the net.”
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?: Harry Perkins pic.twitter.com/vjwP5E4vNV
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Another player who played down any injury concerns about his fitness was the other goalscorer on Tuesday night, defender Morgan Williams, who picked up an ankle injury in the first pre-season friendly at Buckland United.
That ruled him out of the matches at Wimborne Town and Tiverton Town, but he returned as a second half substitute in the 5-0 win at Dorchester Town and played the full 90 minutes against Newport.
Speaking after the match at Huish Park, he said: “It was only precautionary which meant I was out for a week or so to make sure I could get back fit, but I am feeling really good and really happy.”
He added that the team is now looking forward to the start of the National League South season which gets underway next weekend following the final friendly fixture of pre-season at Plymouth Parkway this Saturday.
Williams added: “We are looking sharp, all the boys are looking and we are ready to go. You can see the new ground with the new seats (in the dug out area) looking really nice, so we are looking forward to being back for home games during the (National League South) season.”
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— Yeovil Town F.C. (@YTFC) July 25, 2023