Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley was pleased to see the work on his side’s attacking play make it off the training ground and on to the pitch in the 3-1 home win over Braintree Town.
The Glovers started 2026 with a comfortable victory courtesy of goals from midfielder Luke McCormick, his eighth of the season, James Daly’s first for the club before a late own goal wrapped up the three points.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins after the game, Rowley said: “It is something we have been working on in training, trying to get in to the final third more often and trying to give the boys clearer pictures about how we might create goals and it won’t always be pretty. Some of our organisational stuff was good, we needed a little reminder at half-time and we showed the boys a couple of clips about what we wanted to see more or less of.
“I thought we were decent all round, there’s loads to improve on still and I fully appreciate that but we saw some good signs there. Some of the set piece deliveries out there were top drawer, Brett’s right foot was brilliant and every time we got a free kick or corner, I thought we might score.”
He added: “I would not say it was massively convincing, there were some good spells from Braintree, but I thought we had decent control of the game for large parts and I thought the only time they looked like threatening us was from our sloppy giveaways particularly in the middle or final third of the pitch when we weren’t set up correctly. We left our defence quite isolated in those transitions, but we dealt with that and I thought we were pretty worthy winners.”
Despite the victory, Rowley said he expects to bring in new faces next weeks with left back Alex Whittle having been out for almost a month through injury. He also revealed midfielder Josh Tobin, who is on loan from League Two side Bromley, is also injured and was only named among the substitutes on Saturday to make up the numbers.
The manager had also spoken about how he expected “some changes” following the 1-1 draw at home to Eastleigh on Tuesday night.
On new arrivals, the Glovers’ boss said: “We might have a couple of ideas coming along next week. I think the boys just need a bit of help and support because we are light on numbers at the moment. Whitts has been out for a couple of weeks, Josh Tobin was injured tonight, Jacob Maddox has not played any minutes in a year, so I want to have more depth and players challenging for slots. We are working hard on that, but I think it is important we get the right players and the right characters in and I want to make sure they are good people and fit the system.”
Midfielder Jacob Maddox, who has not featured for almost a year due to an injury which required an operation in the summer, was also named on the bench against Braintree. Rowley said he had spoken to the former Forest Green Rovers man about going out on loan to build his match fitness.
He said: “Naturally any time a footballer has been out for almost a year, it is really difficult. Mentally training on your own, but then when you start playing you are naturally worried about re-injuring yourself but I think he is over that stage now. He is competing in training, going in for duels and looking fit and strong.
“He is a very technical footballer, my type of footballer, he can receive the ball in tight spaces, he sees a pass as well, so I hope we can offer him some minutes in the short term. I have spoken to him about potentially going on a very short loan to get some minutes because it is difficult just coming on for 10 or 15 minutes with us, but he is someone I think can help this team when he gets fit.“