Yeovil Town will make the relatively short trip up to the New Lawn in Gloucestershire on Saturday, as they face one of the National League Premier Division’s pre-season promotion favourites, Forest Green Rovers.
Form Guide…
Yeovil Town
Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green also drew their opening game of the season, as they faced Solihull Moors in the Midlands. The game finished 2-2 with the visitors’ goals coming from striker Christian Doidge and summer signing Nick Haughton.
Robbie Savage’s side looked strong and seemed to have wrapped up all three points against a Solihull side which had been reduced to ten men in the sixth minute before Moors late on through James Clarke.
Key Players…
Yeovil Town – Jed Ward
The on loan Bristol Rovers goalkeeper proved last week why having a good goalie can keep a side in the game. Outside of Wodskou’s late chance Yeovil didn’t offer much going forward. However, at the back Ward kept Mark Cooper’s team in the game. Hartlepool were the more attacking side with multiple opportunities to score, but for Ward being a brick wall at the back. Looking at the firepower in Forest Green’s squad it could be a busy afternoon for the 22-year-old, who started last season on loan at The New Lawn.
In recent seasons Yeovil haven’t had the best of luck with keepers as Cooper seems to fall out with them often. In the past though the Somerset side have always had a strong shot stopper including Marek Stech, Wayne Hennessey and Nathan Baxter. Will Ward join the list? Only time will tell, but the early signs look good.
Forest Green Rovers – Christian Doidge
Christian Doidge is the obvious choice, with the striker being a scoring machine. The Welshman has bagged over 80 goals for Rovers alone across two spells with the Gloucestershire side.
Doidge rejoined Forest Green last summer and scored 12 goals in the National League. Before that he spent five years north of the border with Hibernian. During his entire career, the 32-year-old has bagged 158 goals, with his most recent being last weekend in their opening day draw at Solihull Moors.
The Gaffer….
Another well-known face in the opposition dugout this weekend as former Wales midfielder Robbie Savage takes charge of his first competitive game at the New Lawn.
Well known for his blonde locks and outspoken style as a pundit, Savage has taken to management well. Starting his managerial career with Macclesfield, the former Leicester City, Birmingham City and Derby County player got them promoted to the National League North last season.
Savage had a few interesting things to say about Yeovil boss Mark Cooper who guided Forest Green to the Football League back in 2017.
He told the Stroud Times: “I’ve got to emulate what Mark did here, getting promotion – Mark’s got nothing to prove, he won promotion in a play-off final, it’s me that’s got to prove something. I’ve got huge respect for all managers, especially now being one now.
“He’s (Mark Cooper) done something I’ve never done here and that’s won promotion at Forest Green, so I will give him that huge respect, but I want to win, my team want to win.”
Last Time We Met…
When the two sides last met last season the game finished 1-1 at Huish Park on Good Friday, with Yeovil’s goal coming from the now departed Sonny Blu-Lo Everton. It looked like Mark Cooper would get a win over his former club until defender Ryan Inniss scored in stoppage time to level it late.
The last time they met at the New Lawn, Rovers ran out 2-1 winners. The Glovers looked like they had the game wrapped up after a Kofi Shaw goal, until again Inniss scored in stoppage time before a Kyle McAllister goal secured all three points. Shaw was sent off in the 75th minute of the game.
Don’t I Know You?
There are a couple of familiar faces who are likely to feature for Forest Green today:
Ryan Inniss – The defender played for Yeovil six times on loan from Crystal Palace in the 2014/15 season.
Tom Knowles – sorry Ian, but obviously the Forest Green forward spent a successful spell at Huish Park between October 2020 and August 2022, when <NAME REDACTED> flogged him to Walsall. Fair to say TK has looked sharp for his current employers in pre-season.
Man In The Middle…
The referee for Saturday’s fixture will be Andrew Humphries. Read all about him here in Ben’s write up.