match preview from yeovil website
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Yeovil Town make the relatively short journey to the County Ground, home of Swindon Town on Sunday afternoon, for a game that is also being screened live on Sky Sports, with kick-off at 4.00pm. This will be Yeovil's 5th appearance on Sky during 2007, with another game still to come before the year runs out.
Going into the game, manager Russell Slade faces his usual team selection crisis and he expects to be still down to his bare bones, with again possibly only 16 players likely to be fit to travel. In another context this could be seen as a crisis, but despite having a depleted squad, the Glovers are on a run of four unbeaten games and the squad that travels to Wiltshire has been responsible for that good spell.
Definitely out are Gary Dempsey (foot), Lee Morris (knee), Marc Bircham (hamstring) and Justin Cochrane (ankle) and although club captain Terry Skiverton is now back in training, Sunday's match may be considered to be a little too soon for him to play in a first team match. There are also doubts over midfielder Lee Peltier, striker Lloyd Owusu and winger Jerahl Hughes (groin) who are all on the treatment table. Speaking to this week's Western Gazette, Russell admitted:
"This is definitely the worst I have had since I have been at Yeovil because it is one thing after another. We are down to 16 fit professionals and we cannot afford to lose anyone else. Skivo (Terry Skiverton) saw a specialist on Tuesday and trained. He has got the green light to train fully so we will get a good week from him. He is another possibility if we needed to push although my physio (Jim Joyce) might try to talk me out of it. The other two who are closest are (Jerahl) Hughes and Birch (Marc Bircham). Birch has not trained yet and he may at the end of the week but he will not be available for Sunday. (Lee) Peltier came off with a sore groin on Tuesday and Lloyd (Owusu) was a bit sore too but we are hoping they will recover in time for Sunday or (assistant-manager) Steve Thompson will have to get his boots on."
Swindon lie in 9th place and one point behind the Glovers and are currently unbeaten this season in the league, albeit with three out of those four games ending in draws. They also thrashed Brentford 4-1 in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in midweek and so Russell is expecting them to be in high spirits:
"They have just come up and are therefore they will still be in a honeymoon period. They have got off to a decent start and are a dangerous side. It will be a tough game and they have got home advantage so they will be favourites."
Swindon have no new injury concerns ahead of Sunday's game. In fact, manager Paul Sturrock's only dilemma will be whether to include three of his newer signings in the starting line-up. Defender Chris Blackburn made his debut in midweek and clocked up two goals, whilst Jean-Paul McGovern also had a strong game in that 4-1 win. Striker Billy Painter suffered a delay on his paperwork that meant he couldn't play in the JPT, but will be hoping to make his debut for the club. Longer term absentees Andy Nicholas, Ady Williams and Barry Corr remain on the treatment table.
One media outlet has previewed this weekend's game pointing out that the Glovers have never beaten Swindon in a league match. As the two first teams have only met twice before at league level - both in the 2005-06 season, this was hardly a revolutionary fact! The most recent result came in a 0-0 draw at Huish Park in March 2006, whilst Swindon triumphed 4-2 at the County Ground in the preceding August, with Pablo Bastianini and Terry Skiverton the scorers.
The game is live on Sky Sports One (see yesterday's news for other repeat showings), and a guide to the County Ground and the surrounding area is below.
Yeovil Town make the relatively short journey to the County Ground, home of Swindon Town on Sunday afternoon, for a game that is also being screened live on Sky Sports, with kick-off at 4.00pm. This will be Yeovil's 5th appearance on Sky during 2007, with another game still to come before the year runs out.
Going into the game, manager Russell Slade faces his usual team selection crisis and he expects to be still down to his bare bones, with again possibly only 16 players likely to be fit to travel. In another context this could be seen as a crisis, but despite having a depleted squad, the Glovers are on a run of four unbeaten games and the squad that travels to Wiltshire has been responsible for that good spell.
Definitely out are Gary Dempsey (foot), Lee Morris (knee), Marc Bircham (hamstring) and Justin Cochrane (ankle) and although club captain Terry Skiverton is now back in training, Sunday's match may be considered to be a little too soon for him to play in a first team match. There are also doubts over midfielder Lee Peltier, striker Lloyd Owusu and winger Jerahl Hughes (groin) who are all on the treatment table. Speaking to this week's Western Gazette, Russell admitted:
"This is definitely the worst I have had since I have been at Yeovil because it is one thing after another. We are down to 16 fit professionals and we cannot afford to lose anyone else. Skivo (Terry Skiverton) saw a specialist on Tuesday and trained. He has got the green light to train fully so we will get a good week from him. He is another possibility if we needed to push although my physio (Jim Joyce) might try to talk me out of it. The other two who are closest are (Jerahl) Hughes and Birch (Marc Bircham). Birch has not trained yet and he may at the end of the week but he will not be available for Sunday. (Lee) Peltier came off with a sore groin on Tuesday and Lloyd (Owusu) was a bit sore too but we are hoping they will recover in time for Sunday or (assistant-manager) Steve Thompson will have to get his boots on."
Swindon lie in 9th place and one point behind the Glovers and are currently unbeaten this season in the league, albeit with three out of those four games ending in draws. They also thrashed Brentford 4-1 in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in midweek and so Russell is expecting them to be in high spirits:
"They have just come up and are therefore they will still be in a honeymoon period. They have got off to a decent start and are a dangerous side. It will be a tough game and they have got home advantage so they will be favourites."
Swindon have no new injury concerns ahead of Sunday's game. In fact, manager Paul Sturrock's only dilemma will be whether to include three of his newer signings in the starting line-up. Defender Chris Blackburn made his debut in midweek and clocked up two goals, whilst Jean-Paul McGovern also had a strong game in that 4-1 win. Striker Billy Painter suffered a delay on his paperwork that meant he couldn't play in the JPT, but will be hoping to make his debut for the club. Longer term absentees Andy Nicholas, Ady Williams and Barry Corr remain on the treatment table.
One media outlet has previewed this weekend's game pointing out that the Glovers have never beaten Swindon in a league match. As the two first teams have only met twice before at league level - both in the 2005-06 season, this was hardly a revolutionary fact! The most recent result came in a 0-0 draw at Huish Park in March 2006, whilst Swindon triumphed 4-2 at the County Ground in the preceding August, with Pablo Bastianini and Terry Skiverton the scorers.
