Yeovil hoping for a kinder Huish
Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 29 April 2010
PARK LIFE: YEOVIL Town, Athletic’s opponents at Huish Park on Saturday (3pm), are still not completely safe in Coca-Cola League One.
The Glovers head into their final home game of the season two points and two places below Athletic.
Their current 50-point total will be enough to preserve their status should Tranmere fail to beat promotion-chasing Millwall at Prenton Park.
But Yeovil boss Terry Skiverton, who led his side to a sterile 0-0 draw at Boundary Park earlier this season, wants to make absolutely sure of staying up by seeing off Athletic.
“We are looking at making sure we do something at home,” Skiverton told the BBC after his side drew 1-1 at Brentford last week.
“When you’re not playing well, sometimes you’ve got to bring in the other things, which are determination, doggedness and our spirit of defending, and I felt that we did that at Brentford.”
Yeovil’s descent down the table can be explained by a recent record of one win in their last eight games — and even that was against rock-bottom Stockport County.
That run has encompassed some tricky fixtures, though, with big names Millwall, Leeds and Southampton all visiting Huish Park.
Familiar faces abound at the Somerset club, currently enjoying a fifth successive season playing in League One after being promoted as League Two champions in 2005 in what was only Yeovil’s second-ever season in the Football League.
While captain Stefan Stam is out after having surgery on a damaged hamstring, fellow ex-Athletic men Terrell Forbes and JP Kalala are integral members of the Glovers’ line-up and will be out to bring down their former employers.
Yeovil’s main threat to Athletic’s rearguard will be Dean Bowditch, who is the team’s top scorer this season with 10 league goals.
LEE Williams, Athletic’s groundsman, was highly commended at the Football League awards as a result of the Boundary Park playing surface.
Southampton’s Andy Gray won the overall League One award, with the work of Williams and Norwich’s Gary Kemp also recognised.
