Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has said he believes that an influx of new faces at Huish Park have the makings of a side moulded in his image.
The Glovers have brought five new players in recent weeks in the form of Cardiff City loanees Dakari Mafico and Troy Perrett, centre half Joy Mukena, midfielder Jonathon Page and Fulham attacker Terrell Works.
Speaking to BBC Somerset reporter Jack Killah ahead of this weekend’s trip to Brackley Town, the boss said he expected that to be the end of his recruitment for the season and called on fans to be patient with the new arrivals.
He said: “I have been really pleased with what I have seen from the current squad and it is nothing against them, I just feel we needed a bit of a freshen up and a bit more depth in certain positions. This last four or five weeks has been like a mini pre-season for me, I have figured out what I like and what I want to see less of and with these boys coming in I think we can start to look a bit more like my type of team.
“We still have 20 games this season, so there is a lot of work to do and when you have a turnover of five or six players in such a short space of time, we have to understand we have to give a bit of time for them to bed in.
“But I am aware we are in the winter months of a tough division and we haven’t really got time to do that, but we are going to have to be a bit patient with the boys whilst they understand what we want from them. I am certain that with 10-15 games left we will look smooth and good to watch.
“I can’t see any other signings this season and I am aware we have loaned a lot of players and the truth is that is where you get the best deals at this time of year. I am in contact with a lot of Premier League clubs who have boys that need to play games and you do not have to pay their full wage, but if you sign a player that is going to start for Yeovil you are going to have to pay a fee and a huge wage, so you probably get the best bang for your buck with loans.”
The boss said that he had seen an upturn in training following the influx of new recruits with the existing players upping their game in the face of a new competition and gave an assessment on some of the arrivals.
He said: “Training has been the highest level since I have been here. When you bring new players to a club, faces that have been here for a while step up a bit because they want to show they want to stay and fight for their shirt and the new boys come in and want to show what they are all about.”
Dakari Mafico: “Dak got Man of the Match on his debut (in last weekend’s FA Trophy win over Alvechurch) which is incredible for such a young lad, I felt he dealt with the occasion brilliantly, had a lot of composure, skill and intelligence and the other lads we have brought in are of a similar level.”
Joy Mukena: “He’s a similar mould to (the recently-departed Morgan Williams), very good stature and very composed on the ball. He has played at a couple of teams which are pretty possession based in leagues higher than this, so he has fitted in pretty seamlessly.”
Troy Perrett: “Another Wales Under-21 international, a goal-scoring midfielder with good timing to get in to the box, good receiver and I think he will contribute well.”
Terrell Works: “I have known Terrell for a couple of years from Fulham, I think he got 15-20 goal contributions in the Premier League Under-21s League which is a tough division with a lot of quality players in it. I think he will be a player the fans enjoy watching, he is a bit of a magician, he can take people on both ways, he can score and assist. Terrell was Braintree’s top scorer, so he knows where the net is and he always has, he can finish off both feet in tight spaces and he can work stuff out of nothing which is something we need as well.”
He concluded: “I am really excited about all these lads, a lot of them are young and they are probably going to need a couple of weeks to bed in and feel familiar with the surroundings but I think the fans can expect a lot of good things from those boys.”
Alongside the incomings, there were two departures announced last weekend with the return of loanees James Plant and Andrew Oluwabori to Port Vale and Exeter City respectively, and Rowley said he felt bringing in new faces was preferable to keeping the pair.
He said: “There potentially would have been scope (for them to stay), we looked at the squad, the balance of positions and what we need and we felt we could bring in three or four players in place of those two and it made sense to get cover in a couple of different positions.
I have nothing but good things to say (about James Plant and Andrew Oluwabori), they are great professionals and always trained well, but I felt like we needed a couple of different faces that could do different things.”
Yeovil return to National League action as they make their first-ever trip to Brackley Town to face one of the division’s few part-time outfits on Saturday. The Northamptonshire club sit in 18th place in the table going in to the match, albeit with games in hand over come of the other teams around them, and having already defeated high-flying Rochdale and Forest Green Rovers on their own patch this season.
They were put out of the FA Trophy by Rowley’s old side Walton & Hersham last weekend, but did win their last league match at Boston United with Ben Wodskou scoring the winner. The on-loan Birmingham City striker was on the books at Huish Park earlier this season, scoring the winner for Yeovil when the two sides met in Somerset in late August.
Asked about Brackley, Rowley said: “I know what they are all about, very organised team, solid and do not let a lot of goals in especially at their place. We know how we are going to look, but the pitch, the weather and the environment plays a part in how you approach the early part of the game.
“We know what we are walking into and I think we are going to have to be our best version of ourselves. We want to go there and get a good result and they are no pushovers at their place, they get some good results, so it is going to be difficult but we are going there to win, that is for sure.“