Yeovil Town are back at Huish Park with strugglers AFC Fylde in town, the Lancastrians sit just inside the relegation zone. With bottom club Ebbsfleet United now mathematically gone, there are now three spots to avoid, and probably six teams to battle it out.
Form Guide…
Yeovil Town are back on home soil. After a tough run of fixtures and results, they put Solihull Moors to the sword last weekend with a 3-0 rout in the Midlands, a result which could have been even more convincing. Meanwhile, in Lancashire today’s opponents, AFC Fylde, were putting high-flying Forest Green Rovers to the sword by the same scoreline.
On home soil, the Glovers’ form is the fourth-worst in the National League Premier with only sides in the division’s drop zone, Ebbsfleet, Boston United and Maidenhead United, having worst records. The last two matches have seen them go down to big-spending York City a fortnight ago and Boston, but before that they were unfortunate to only get a point off Southend United and picked up maximum points against Tamworth.
On the flip side, only Ebbsfleet have a worse record away from home than Fylde. The Coasters have scored just 12 (the worst in the league) and conceded 38 goals (2nd worst) in games on the road, it’s fair to say they don’t travel well.
In their last two matches, the Lancashire side have gone down 1-0 at Ebbsfleet and drawn 1-1 at Gateshead.
Key Players…
Yeovil – Sonny Blu Lo Everton
Sonny Blu Lo Everton has been at the heart of everything Yeovil Town have done well since his return to the side.
He made the game against Solihull tick from start to finish and has earned plaudits for his effort and endeavour in recent defeats, he made a big impact in the reverse fixture, scoring the third goal for the Glovers.
He can pull the strings in a dynamic and young front line that can get the Glovers going.
AFC Fylde- Nick Haughton
The Coaster’s Number 10 will have the weight of his team on his shoulders for this game, the talented playmaker, got the third goal against Forest Green last week and the opening two goals in the 4-3 thriller when these met in September.
The 30-year old has had his suitors from teams higher up in the table, but he’s stayed loyal to his side and produced a return of 17 goals and plenty of assists in 37 league appearances this campaign.
That’s what he said…
Yeovil Town boss Mark Cooper is not reading too much in to Fylde’s victory against Forest Green Rovers last weekend and realises that his own side’s result will only be what they are judged by until 5pm on Saturday.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah, he said: “At this stage of the season you get so many strange results. York went to Braintree and lost, we could easily have beaten York the week before, we try not to look at other results, we just get our heads down and do what we need to do. It is a great result for Fylde, they played really well, they were aggressive, pressed and looked really organised and sometimes you catch teams like Forest Green on an off day. But we are at home and if we play anything like we did at Solihull we have a big chance, if we run like we did against Solihull and get after the opposition, we can get a result.
“There is another argument to say that if they were coming here and they were safe they could come here and go and play their stuff. It is about fully respecting the opposition, they have some good players, but they are in the relegation zone for a reason. We have to fully respect them and the fact they had a good result last week, we will be organised and on the front foot and look at how we can hurt them with our weapons and I am sure we will give them some problems.”
Fylde sacked former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips in a bid to arrest their plunge towards relegation in February and his assistant David Longwell was placed in interim charge. The former Burnley academy manager only arrived at the Lancashire club in January and was given the top job until the end of the season alongside goalkeeping coach Chris Neal.
In his pre match chat with their club media, Longwell said: “It’s a tough game, it’s going to be a tough trip down for us, to put the same level of effort in, application that we’ve done (vs Forest Green).
“Yeovil have come off the end of having a little sticky patch, they had a really good result the other day and deservedly won the game (at Solihull), their tails will be up. I think they’ve done a great job, and the manager’s done a great job in replacing the players that have left, I’ve been impressed with them, I’ve seen some of the Solihull game, a fantastic result and showed some really good moment in there.”
We’ve met before…
We have, and it’s rarely been dull! In the post 2018-Non League era, we’ve met three times, sharing 16 goals.
The 4-3 earlier this season and a 2-2 draw combined with a 3-2 win in the 2019/20 season.
Don’t I know you?…
Winger Gavin Massey and defender Corey Whelan both head to Huish Park able to navigate their way around the gaff.
Whelan had a very short stint as a loanee back in 2017/18, playing half a dozen times on loan from Liverpool.
You have to go back to the 2011/12 season to find Gavin Massey in a Yeovil shirt.
Having arrived from Watford, he played 16 times in green-and-white, scoring three times before heading to Colchester United.
Who’s been naughty then…
No one is suspended for the game. However, referee Ross Martin has already booked Ciaran McGuckin and the gaffer, when taking charge of the 1-0 win over Dagenham and Redbridge