Solihull Moors‘ boss Neal Ardley has one thing which will give his opposite number Darren Sarll a touch of the green-eyed monster – options.
The Moors’ boss made five changes including dropping top-scorer Joe Sbarra and summer signing Andrew Dallas to the bench for the midweek win at Altrincham.
Sbarra responded by coming off the bench to net the winner as the visitors battled back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 and with it move up to fifth in the National League table, just four points behind leaders Grimsby Town.
That made it four consecutive wins by a one-goal margin in all competitions for Ardley’s men.
They beat FC Halifax Town 1-0 at Damson Park last weekend, having picked up 1-0 away wins at Hereford in the FA Cup and at King’s Lynn Town the previous two Saturdays.
Indeed you have to go back to September 25 when they were last beaten albeit that was a 5-1 whipping away at Dagenham & Redbridge.
If you are making the trip to Solihull, don’t forget to check out our Ciderspace Away Travel Guide to Damson Park – here.
Also, catch our chat with Joel Butler from the Solihull Bandwagon Fanzine on the latest podcast – here.
FROM THE MANAGER
Solihull Moors’ manager Neal Ardley, who arrived at Damson Park in the summer having been harshly sacked by Notts County last season, believes his side are growing in confidence.
Speaking after a 2-1 win at Altrincham on Tuesday night, he said: “The lads fighting hard for each other and it is amazing what winning can do, it gives everyone that confidence to keep going even when we do fall behind.
“The mind is a massive thing in football and I keep saying to these players how good they can be and what they can achieve.
“At the moment, they are riding the crest of a wave and we just need to keep it going – it’s a long, long season.”
But, the manager insists he will not be taking the threat posed by Yeovil Town for granted.
He added: “Yeovil is tough, they had a good win against Woking (on Tuesday night.
“I know Darren Sarll’s teams are always up for it, it’ll be a high tempo game and they will ask questions of us.
“I have got good options to freshen it up again and hopefully the boys will go and produce.”
TEAM NEWS
Central defender Alex Gudger missed the midweek win at Altrincham through illness.
He is thought to have picked up a bug from his daughter which kept him out of action.
Asked about the missing defender in midweek, Moors’ boss Neal Ardley said: “As always with that sort of stuff you have to get him away and give him 48 hours to get his energy back.
“We will see where he is come the end of the week.”
The only other absentee from the squad is 6’9″ striker Kyle Hudlin, who was a star in Moors’ 5-1 win over Yeovil last time out at Damson Park.
The tallest outfield professional player in Britain – now there’s a claim – has struggled with second season syndrome after his performances last season saw him linked with a number of Premier League clubs .
Under Ardley, he has only started once with that coming in a 4-3 home defeat to W*ymouth at the start of September.
A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS
A striker on either side will be looking to strike the old boy’s curse against their former employers this weekend.
In the green-and-white corner, Glovers’ striker Adi Yussuf has a mixed record as a Solihull player.
In the 2018-19 season he scored 17 times as Moors reached the National League play-offs, earning him a move back in to the Football League at Blackpool where he failed to hit it off.
So much so, he was loaned back to Moors in September 2019, making his debut in a 1-0 defeat to Yeovil – the Luke Wilkinson 7/7 performance, yes – and managed just one goal in 11 appearances.
Equally, Adam Rooney‘s three-game loan spell at Huish Park in 2007 was equally anonymous.
He failed to pull up many trees in League One whilst on loan from Stoke City, but when on to be prolific north of the border with Inverness and then Aberdeen before repeating that form with Salford City.
He’s started just three times for Moors this season and is still waiting for his first goal of the campaign.
Other players with a foot in both camps include:
- Josh Neufville (Solihull – September 2019-January 2020; Yeovil – December 2020-June 2021)
- Wes McDonald (Solihull – 2018, Yeovil – 2018-2019)
- Jack Storer (Yeovil – 2017, Solihull 2017-18)
- Jake Edwards (Yeovil – 2003-04, Solihull – 2008-10)
- Lee Morris (Yeovil 2006-08, Solihull – 2011-2012)