Yeovil Town are back in SkyBet Championship action this Friday night as the Glovers travel to Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Seagulls are on the brink of the play offs and with Yeovil town’s Championship tenure looking like coming to end, the Sky Sports cameras will show the game live, hence the Friday evening kick off.
Yeovil sit bottom of the table, six points from safety, with two games remaining. Whilst this should offer a glimmer of hope, there would also need to be a 14 goal swing over Birmingham in 21st to confirm the Glovers’ Championship status.
So, Yeovil would need two 3-0 wins over Brighton and Middlesbrough, with Birmingham losing their three remaining games by an aggregate of eight goals.
Of course, defeats along the way for Barnsley and Blackpool would also aid the survival mission.
In truth, Gary Johnson and the club have already begun preparing for life back in the third tier, but with two games left against two of this division’s biggest names Glovers’ fans can still back their side safe in the knowledge that if the side are going down, they’re going to go down fighting.
Starting on Friday and Yeovil head to the AMEX stadium with the ambition to spoil their promotion push; Manager Gary Johnson commenting that the Glovers ‘owe it to the other teams’ to make sure they give everything.
With a maximum of 43 points still available for Yeovil, they are expected to be playing a full strength side. Kieffer Moore and Adam Morgan are still out with injury, but Tom Lawrence will be hoping to keep his scoring boots on after he scored a blockbuster of a free kick against Huddersfield.
As for Friday’s opponents, Brighton have drawn their last two games against Huddersfield and Blackpool. Prior to that wins over Charlton and Champions, Leicester have put them in prime position for a shot at the play-offs.
If the Seagulls avoid defeat on Friday, they will have gone the entire month of April without losing. Oscar Garcia has been boosted by the return of a few key players from long term injury.
Will Buckley, Craig Mackail-Smith and Will Hoskins have come back into the squad while Matt Upson is playing through the pain barrier in order to take his place in the run in.
This will be the first time that Yeovil have visited Brighton’s new ground, but not the first time the two sides have met.
The two sides have crossed paths a number of times before, but the record shows that recently, Brighton have had the better of the results.
Earlier this season, the two sides played out a 0-0 draw at Huish Park back in October. The game saw Fraser Fyvie make his debut for the Glovers, however his game ended early through injury.
Shane Duffy could have snatched all three points at the death and a Wayne Hennessey performance of the highest calibre kept the Brighton front line at bay.
Before that, the sides last met in the 2010/11 season, which saw the Seagulls claim 1-0 wins both home and away.
You have to go back to 2009 since the last time Yeovil scored a goal against Brighton, a Scott Murray double securing a 2-2 draw at Huish Park. You need to go back even further to find a Yeovil win, 2007 in fact.
Gary Dempsey and Aston Villa loanee Zoltain Steiber scoring in a 2-1 win at Huish Park. Could another loanee be the downfall of Brighton once more? Tom Lawrence, Joe Ralls and Shane Duffy will certainly hope it is them.
Tickets for the game are available from Huish Park until 5pm on Thursday, after that they will be available on match day from the ground.
However, Brighton are advising leaving as much time as possible to get through queues and suggest collecting tickets 90 minutes before kick-off.
If you cannot make it to the AMEX, you can tune into Sky Sports for their coverage, or of course, for coverage with a tiny green and white tint, Glovers Player will have the full 90 minutes as well.
There are a couple of things to remind you of as the Brighton game passes us by; firstly, there are 60+ cyclists who don’t fancy their usual route to the final game of the season.
Middlesbrough is a long way from Yeovil, over 300 miles in fact and those cyclists are going to be putting pedal power to the test to make the journey. You can read more here about their three charities and how you can support them by clicking here.
Looking forward, the final game of the Championship season is next Saturday, May 3rd.
Yeovil host Middlesbrough in a 12:15 kick off. Let’s get Huish Park packed out for one last time at this level, buy your tickets now either online or by calling the ticket office.
Get there early enough and cheer the cyclists on their home stretch!
Famous Brighton Fans – Who will you bump into, in line for a hot dog?
DJ Fatboy Slim, Moustachioed TV Presenter Des Lynham, Radio and TV frontman Jamie Theakston, and Weatherman Michael Fish.
A Foot in both camps. – Who have represented both sides?
Nathan Jones, Vitalij Maksimenko, Liam Bridcutt, Russell Slade, Dean Bowditch, Scott Flinders, Gifton Noel-Williams, Lloyd Owusu, Adam Virgo, Sam Williams and Danny Webb.