The absence of captain Luke McCormick from Yeovil Town’s starting XI to face Solihull Moors tonight is a “tactical” decision, according to Glovers’ boss Billy Rowley.
The skipper is missing from the squad entirely along with striker Ste Walker, who missed the 1-1 draw at Aldershot Town due to illness.
Speaking ahead of kick-off, Rowley told BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah that the squad had been suffering with injuries – but McCormick was not one of them.
He said: “We’ve had a bit of bad luck sort of around the training ground with injuries, but Luke’s a tactical one. We’ve looked at the game and the opposition and this week’s training and that’s it is what it is.”
There is a first start for defender Jack Kingdon, who has only managed one substitute appearance since arriving in the summer, and Under-19s’ striker Liam Nardiello is on the bench.
On Kingdon, the manager said: “I just made a point in front of the players, he is the best model pro you could wish for. He’s trained brilliantly in the last six weeks. He has deserved more chances than he’s been given, but that’s what happens when you’ve got good players like Ben Radcliffe, like Loick (Ayina), Hayden (Muller) can obviously play there and Joy. So, Jack has had to wait for his chance and I fully expect a good performance from Jack. He’s really level-headed and and he’s had a great pedigree.”
Ayina misses out through suspension following his red card at Aldershot and Mukena is out for “weeks” through injury.
On Nardiello, Rowley added: “He trained really well yesterday. We’ve got a a Somerset Men’s Premier Cup game against Radstock on Tuesday night here and he’s been with us last season a little bit. We’re obviously low on numbers, but he’s got good energy and we felt like he could be part of this squad tonight.”