Winger James Daly is available for selection as Yeovil Town prepare for a bank holiday weekend double header at Barrow tomorrow night.
The 26-year-old suffered a gash on top of his foot after a wild tackle in the dying seconds of the 1-1 draw with Carlisle United a fortnight ago which kept him out of last weekend’s 3-0 win over Gateshead.
The Glovers make the long journey to Cumbria to face Barrow on Friday night before taking on Tamworth at Huish Park on Bank Holiday Monday.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Richard Hoskins about the returning winger, the boss said: “He did full training for the last two sessions, so he’s back. The stitches came out of his foot wound which is all good and there is no infection. He’s ready for selection and looked really sharp today.”
Defender Joe Gubbins will also be available having served a one-match suspension for his sending off against Carlisle and Rowley said on loan Crawley Town defender Ben Radcliffe had got through a training session on Thursday having gone off against Gateshead with an ankle injury.
The Glovers made the 300-mile journey up to Cumbria on Thursday night before making the return trip to be ready to host Tamworth at Huish Park just 72 hours later.
Rowley is expecting a tough test against a Barrow side relegated out of the Football League in May. The Bluebirds lost their opening two matches before grabbing a draw at Harrogate Town courtesy of an injury time equaliser last weekend.
The Yeovil boss said: “They have got some really good players, got a top manager in Adam (Murray) so I think this is going to be a really tricky game for us in multiple ways. There’s obviously a lot of factors come into that, the travel, the weather there is not going to be perfect conditions, so there are a lot of factors for us to consider, but we’re on the back of a really good performance last week and the boys are in good spirits and ready.
“I don’t mind these long trips, they can get a bit tedious towards the end. (Barrow) is going to be an interesting one for us because we will wake up early in a the hotel there and going to have to wait until 5pm to leave for the stadium. It is a lot of dead time there and we’ll have to think of some ways to keep the boys engaged and fresh. So that’s going to be the job of the staff on the way up, but it also gives us a good chance for us to watch some Tamworth stuff and get to work.”
Their next opponents, Tamworth, host Worthing on Friday night looking for their first win of the campaign having drawn with Boreham Wood on the opening day and then suffered defeats to AFC Fylde and FC Halifax Town. Rowley said he was “not overly focused” on Monday’s match with his full attention on Barrow.
With the EFL transfer deadline due to fall next Tuesday, the boss was asked about the potential of adding further to his squad through loans. The Glovers already have Radcliffe on loan from Crawley Town, defender Loick Ayina from Salford City and Barnsley winger Charlie Lennon, leaving two loan spots against the five National League clubs are allowed to include in a matchday squad.
Rowley said: “Some (EFL) teams will pitch their players to League Two and League One clubs, and eventually, when they run out of options, then they’ll try and contact some of us lower down the pyramid. In previous years, the loan system has benefited a lot because we ended up with some top loans at my previous club (Walton & Hersham) and last season. I’ve asked this question a few times and we’re really happy with the current squad, we don’t really need anything at the moment. We’re looking at improving in areas we can, so we’ll never say never, but at the moment, we’re pretty happy.“