Yeovil Town manager Billy Rowley has admitted his side has clicked quicker than he expected as they go in to this weekend’s trip to FC Halifax Town in the National League play-off places.
Ahead of the start of the season, the Glovers’ boss had been predicting his side to hit their stride as the year drew to a close but, with 15 games played they sit fourth in the division having scored 50 goals in all competitions.
They bounced back from last weekend’s 2-1 home defeat to Altrincham with a win by the same scoreline at Hornchurch in midweek and Rowley said supporters will still need to have patience with the side at some points.
Speaking to BBC Somerset reporter Josh Perkins on Thursday, the boss said: “It’s probably quicker quicker than I thought, but equally I think we are going to see a couple of steps back here and there.
“We’ve still got such a young group, a lot of boys who have come from a league or two below, so when we don’t perform to our maximum it’s about staying level-headed, realising we are not the finished product, going again, training hard and trying to improve all the time.”
He added: “Results have been good, players are playing well and they are full of confidence and there are some really good relationships in the camp as well. Many of these lads did not even know each other’s names four months ago, now they are hanging around with each other outside of football, building great relationships. It’s really nice to see.”
Defender Jordan Norville-Williams will be missing from the squad which travels to Halifax on Saturday after he limped off with a hamstring injury in the first half at Hornchurch. He joins defender Joy Mukena and summer signing Joe Haigh, who is yet to make an appearance for the Glovers having undergone surgery, in the Huish Park treatment room.
Rowley said Norville-Williams would be going for a scan on the injury, adding: “The initial feeling from the physio is that it is not too serious. Best case scenario is probably ten days to two weeks, worst case is maybe three for four weeks.”
However, the boss has been boosted by the arrival of Bristol City loanee Seb Naylor who impressed on his debut at Hornchurch. The 21-year-old has joined on loan until the start of January and is an obvious replacement for Norville-Williams.
Rowley said: “We didn’t have another left-back in the building, we decided to loan one last week for that reason and then Jordan gets injured, so it’s kind of a blessing we did that. Seb fitted in seamlessly and I said after the game at Hornchurch on Tuesday, he’s had a great grounding at Manchester City and now Bristol City.
“He’s played in a really possession-based team his whole life, understandings the positional concepts and has a great understanding of football. So he will fit seamlessly in to this group and offer us a lot of different qualities to what Jordan does, but an equal amount of ability in that team.”
Yeovil make the long trip to West Yorkshire to take on Halifax in a 12.30pm kick-off – one of just two in the division with broadcasters DAZN also choosing to send Harrogate Town to Forest Green Rovers for a lunchtime start. The Shaymen went down to a 3-2 home defeat to Barrow in midweek having led 2-0 with an hour played and Rowley is expecting a different test to the one his side faced at Hornchurch.
He said: “I remember the last time we were up that way, we were sitting around all day in the hotel until 7pm waiting for kick-off, this is at the other end of the spectrum, we’re up early and we will go down there and try and get another result.
“But are a top team and they have proved that in the last couple of years in this division. Stylistically it is going to be very different to what we faced on Tuesday. We are going to have to be the best version of ourselves to go up there and get anything from the game.“