Yeovil will be looking to get back to winning consecutive games again after a little stumble in form. The Glovers got back to winning ways on Wednesday night in the Somerset Derby against Jerry Gill’s Bath City. The 1-0 win saw Town keep their first clean sheet in 6 games, after a run of four without a win.
Dartford’s form and performances have really stepped up in recent weeks compared to how they were playing in the early the matches of the season.
“The Darts” most recent match was against Torquay United, which they won 3-0 at home. That game was played on the 25th of November, so they haven’t played for a couple weeks. Dartford haven’t won 2 league games in a row since the end of September into October, where they beat Tonbridge at home 1-0 and Chippenham away 4-1. (Winning at Chippenham must be nice…)
The Glovers will be looking to pick up the form they had in THAT 14 game winning run. Dartford will be looking to win consecutive games to push them up towards the top half of the table. It certainly won’t be easy for Yeovil as the Kent based side have underperformed so far and is a team stacked with quality.
Yeovil Town News
Yeovil’s manager, Mark Cooper spoke to BBC Somerset’s Ian Randall after the 1-0 win over Bath City where he said the “desire, togetherness and commitment of the whole group is what got us through.”
Cooper was also asked how he feels about going to Dartford on Saturday where he said; “we’re looking forward to it” and “we’ll make sure we are really ready for it.”
It’s been a brilliant week for the Yeovil Town centre half Morgan Williams, who signed a new contract until 2026, before following it up with an 80th minute winner on Wednesday night. He spoke to Ian Randall after the game where he said that Wednesday nights win and clean sheet was “massive!”
Williams was also asked how he felt about the trip to Dartford on the weekend, he replied; “we’ve just gotta go to Saturday and try to get three points.”
Alex Whittle had to come off for Will Dawes midway through the first half on Wednesday night after going down injured, after the game Mark Cooper was asked for an update on the left back where he said: “He’s alright, we thought he felt something in his calf, but hopefully it’s not too bad and it’ll be ok for Saturday.” The only other injuries are Jordan Stevens and Jamie Sendles-White who are out with longer term injuries.
There are no suspensions for Saturday’s trip to Kent, which means Rhys Murphy could return to the fold.
Dartford News
A fun fact for anyone reading this that didn’t already know, THE Martin Tyler, yes that one, is the assistant manager at Dartford and he said after their 3-0 win over Torquay that “Alan Dowson (their manager) has claimed that this is the best performance his side has put out since he arrive.!”
One of the suspensions for Dartford was meant to be Paul Rooney however, his red card that was obtained against Braintree was appealed and overturned by the FA so he is available for selection. The other suspension is for forward Harvey Bradbury who will miss the game.
After a two weeks without a fixture, there is no news on injuries for The Darts as of writing.
As I previously mentioned, Dartford are a very good side that is underperforming. They have plenty of a talented forwards within the squad including their star player Luke Coulson (number 7) who is a tricky winger with a decent end product. He is now in his second year with The Darts and has scored 5 goals this season.
Another player to look out for is striker George Alexander (number 18) on loan from National League side Bromley. He started the season at Slough Town where he scored a number of goals, placing himself at the top of the goalscorer list for a few weeks. He has only played one game for Dartford, but he did score in their 3-0 win over Gary Johnson’s Torquay.