Full-back Alex Whittle and midfielder Jonathon Page will both be available for Yeovil Town at high-flying Carlisle United this weekend.
The pair have both been involved in training this week having been missing through injury in recent weeks and are now in the frame to be involved in a tough test in Cumbria. Page has been an unused substitute in the last two games and not featured picking up an injury on his debut in the defeat at Brackley Town last month, whilst Whittle has played just once under Rowley having been dogged by injury.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Josh Perkins on Thursday ahead of the 700-mile round trip, manager Billy Rowley said his side were hoping to put in a performance to cancel out a below par performance in the 2-1 home defeat to Aldershot Town on Tuesday night.
He said: “Whitts has been in full training today, I have just given him Man of the Match in training today, he was good out there. Jon Page has also been in full training today and he will be back available for Saturday, he has been really unfortunate since he has come in. So those two lads will come back in the squad and fully available for selection.”
The boss said he showed his side a video nasty as they replayed the opening half-an-hour of their miserable midweek display. The Glovers were 1-0 down inside seven minutes against a visiting side which bossed the game and only drew level courtesy of a spectacular strike from loan forward Terrell Works.
Rowley said: “We have watched some clips of the first 20 to 30 minutes of the game and I think it was important for us all to realign ourselves to what are the minimum expectations of playing for Yeovil. Gouldy (goalkeeping coach, Matt Gould), who is a beam of positive energy in the office, reminded me that in the two-and-a-half months that we have been here, that is definitely the worst we have played and the bottom line is we got outran and outfought on Tuesday night. It was the first time that has happened in the time I have been here, so it was important we pressed the reset button on that and made sure our values of leaving everything on the pitch is still massively important to how we want to play.
“When you are looking around the room, seeing people nodding and looking you in the eye, it is pretty clear that everybody knows we had a bad day at the office on Tuesday. It is something we desperately want to make sure does not happen again and we are looking forward to the game on Saturday to try and change that. It is important to enjoy your wins because it is a short career for a lot of players and managers, but when you do lose a game it is important to remember it is not the end of the world. You have to reflect on it, try and improve on it and try and iron out the things you do not want to see again and that is what we have done. It is not to say we will not lose another game, but we will win plenty as well and we will keep trying to improve.”
The Glovers make the long trip to face third-placed Carlisle United who have won six of their last ten matches in the National League Premier Division and are looking to make up ground on the division’s top two, Rochdale and York City. Last time out they put in an impressive display to win 3-1 at fellow promotion hopefuls, Forest Green Rovers, last weekend but were without a match in midweek.
The Cumbrians’ manager, former Manchester United striker Mark Hughes, confirmed they will be without full-back Josh Williams who picked up a hamstring injury against Forest Green, but Rowley is expecting a tough match.
He said: “They have got a lot of match-winners in their team and Mark Hughes is an idol of mine as a young Man United fan, he was the best volley-er of all time, so it will be great to chat to him about his career, but we are going to go there and try to take three points off them first. They have some top players and it is a great place to go and play football, so I think it will add motivation to our lads. We will go there with a clear mindset and a clear game plan and we have just got to turn up and execute it. We will try to right the wrongs from (the defeat to Aldershot) on Tuesday, run hard and get the win.
“In a weird way I think sometimes the shackles are off (us away from home). I understand modern football can be a little strange for the average punter and something that I keep reassuring our supporters is that we are always looking to score, always looking to get behind teams. Sometimes the execution of that has been off lately, but it is just reinforcing those messages and when we go to an away ground you are naturally the underdog and do not get as many moans and groans and you play without any fear or restrictions. I like this opportunity to go there and upset them, they are a top team with a great manager and we are looking forward to getting out there and doing what we do.“