Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has said that he is approaching Wednesday night’s game vs Sutton with confidence and energy and has asked the Glovers’ fans to follow suit.
Speaking to the BBC’s Josh Perkins on Tuesday he said that he’s learned plenty from a tough run of fixtures and results and is backing his players to get the club back to winning ways;
“Naturally watched the game [vs Carlisle] back with Sam and Daz and taken a lot from it. I think it’s important every time you’re on the end of a defeat, you reflect. Firstly internally, look at yourself: How did you set the team up? Was it correct? Did we press correctly? Did we build correctly? All that boring coach talk, but sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes the answer is no. I think at the moment with the situation we’re in, we just need to make sure that our mentality is really strong, that we’re really together and united in what we need to achieve in these next few weeks. And that starts with me, bringing a lot of clarity to the lads of how we’re going to get the ball back, of how we want to play, and how we want to start games, for sure, a little bit better than we are.
[We’ve been] diving into Sutton and what their strengths and weaknesses are. This is the first time we’ve been able to be on the grass, really, for months because of the weather. So we were out on the grass today looking at the game plan of what we’re going to try and bring to the game tomorrow. I think when you’re at home in front of our fans, I think first and foremost you need to bring good energy, and that’s what we’re going to be trying to bring to this game.”
The squad remains unchanged going into this fixture with Aaron Jarvis and Jake Wannell serving the final game of their respective suspensions, with the manager confirming that some of the team suffering with injuries are closer to being involved.
[I have] spoke to a few of the lads that have just returned from injury today as well. They’re feeling fitter and sharper with every session, which is good to hear. Jake and Jarvis will be back on Saturday with us as well. Look, a week in football can become a very long time. So there’s been some teams in this division which is very tough, very grueling, all it takes is a win or two wins in a row and you suddenly find yourself in like 12th position. And, that’s not dreamland, that’s just literally a fact.
We’ve had a really, really tough run in these past few weeks, which is important for me to reflect on as well. We’ve had some really difficult opponents that are right at the top of the division. We’ve had a couple of red cards thrown in that mix and played against good teams with 10 players for a long period of time. It’s just a chance for us tomorrow night to play in front of our support and start fresh and get a win.”
“I was very fortunate in my last position at my last club where we didn’t lose a game at home for a year. So, you know, we built a very, very good team there. Spent a lot of hours on the training ground getting them to a point where I was very happy with how we played. And [I’m] pretty new in the job here. The boys, who I have a lot of sympathy for, have had their fourth manager this season, which is a lot of mixed messages. Not looking for any excuses here, we’re a work in progress. We are a work in progress, we know that. What we need to do is we need to stick together. We need to not get too low when we lose a game, and we need to turn up every week and every game ready to fight and run and back each other. And if we do that, we’ve got enough.
When asked if the game vs Sutton is a must-win, the response took a while to come…
“Um… yeah. Yeah, let’s say that. Let’s say it is. Um, yeah, let’s go with that, and we’re going to make sure that we are prepared to go and win that game, yeah.”
Pic c/o Gary Brown
When asked about potential recruitment and support off the field, Rowley was clear in his answer – Yes, he’s being supported, but getting the right people through the door is tough.
“I’ve said this many times in interviews, at this time of year, you’re pushing up to March now. The players that are doing really well at their clubs are going nowhere. The players that have been injured for a long time might be available, but then you get a player that’s been injured for a while, they’re not ready to play week in, week out. You often get offered players who haven’t played football in months. So, business at this time of year is very difficult to do.
The time to do your best business is always in the off-season. So, the club have been brilliant with me since I’ve come in. They’ve been very, very supportive. I’m still backing these lads in there behind me to do what they need to do this year. They’ve obviously been all the way, they’ve played a lot of games. Some of them have a great connection and affinity with this club, and sometimes that means more than getting a new shiny toy from a different club on loan that doesn’t really care about the badge. So we need to be really, really diligent and we need to do our research into who we sign and who we bring in. And like I said, sometimes, the players you really, really want aren’t available at this time of year, and sometimes you just need to get 5, 10 percent more out of the lads you’ve got in the changing room already that are ready to run for the club.
When asked for a message for the fans ahead of the game on Wednesday
“I would like them to provide our players with as much energy as we’re going to provide them. We’re going to start the game on the front foot, we’re going to be running at 100 miles an hour to every ball, and let’s get behind the lads and make sure we’re at one tomorrow.”