Unless you have been living under a rock this past week, you will be in no doubt as to the fact that this weekend’s visit by Braintree Town to Huish Park offers the Glovers the chance to extend their unbeaten run to ten matches* on Saturday.
In what is sure to be a special day with the club’s ‘Paint the Town Pink’ campaign, which aims to raise money for the Yeovil Hospital Charity’s effort to fund a new Breast Cancer Unit, the
Yeovil Town News
In terms of availability, it is hard to look beyond those players who started the 2-0 win over W*ymouth at Huish Park on Tuesday night.
Speaking on Thursday, manager Mark Cooper revealed that midfielder Charlie Cooper is unlikely to be available (at least from the start) having missed the last four matches through injury, and long-term absentee defender Jamie Sendles-White is expected to be out for “six to eight weeks.”
No-one has confirmed (perhaps because they haven’t directly been asked) exactly what has happened with the summer signing, but a post on his Instagram account featuring a protective boot on an Achilles injury suggests an operation.
On the opposition, Cooper’s comments are consistent with what he’s been saying all season: “The next game always has to be the most important and we don’t look too far ahead, we have to focus on Braintree and put all our effort in to that.
“If you look too far ahead you are asking for trouble, so Braintree is key, we are enjoying being top of the league but we are not getting too carried away by it.”
Braintree Town News
The big news for Braintree is the signing of experienced striker Shaquille Coulthirst, who has arrived on a one-month loan from National League Premier side Barnet.
The 28-year-old has made four starts for his parent club this season and is yet to find the net and has not had a prolific season since scoring 15 for Barnet in the 2018-19 campaign, but undoubtedly comes with higher division pedigree.
Announcing the signing on Thursday, The Iron described the new arrival as a player with “a wealth of experience” and Coulthirst posted that he was “excited to get started“, presumably starting at Huish Park on Saturday.
Excited to get started.
Let’s get to work @braintreetownfc #COYI https://t.co/2NkIkAhZDG— Shaq Coulthirst (@ShaqCoulthirst) October 26, 2023
Speaking following the midweek 2-0 win at Hemel Hempstead Town – not an easy place to go, as Yeovil discovered on the opening day of the season – manager Angelo Harrop said he felt the result had been coming.
He told the club’s YouTube channel: “I thought in the first half that was our best performance of the season. But I also thought it had been coming, we are such a good talented, young group and once we click we will be a real force in the league.
“Tonight I thought they stood up to the challenge and I always fancied us and I am absolutely delighted for everyone at the club, it is a big win from us.”
That means Braintree have picked up back-to-back National League South wins after a 2-0 home win over Weston-super-Mare last weekend and Harrop believes they will head to Somerset full of confidence.
He said: “We can be excited about that game. We are going to roll the dice on Saturday and enjoy the game and it will be a really good experience for our young group.
“(Yeovil) are a big side in our league so, I don’t often do this, but I am going to give them Thursday night off (training) because I think we need time to recover. We have had a really tough ten days, so they will recover right and on Saturday we will give it everything we can.
“We will go in to it full of confidence, that is seven or eight games unbeaten, it is great to have back-to-back wins so we can go there full of confidence.”
? Here's what our new loan signing has to offer from his time at @NorwichCityFC and @ATLUTD 2#WelcomeVicente #COYI pic.twitter.com/mqyZmN0cDM
— Braintree Town FC (@braintreetownfc) October 14, 2023
In team news, on loan Norwich City keeper Vicente Reyes has kept two clean sheets in his last two outings.
The 19-year-old has played four times since arriving at the club following an injury to number one, Jack Sims.
Striker Will Davies scored twice in the 2-0 win at Hemel having added another from the penalty spot against Weston in the previous game.
The frontman joined from Step 3 side Leiston in the summer where he scored 31 goals last season.