Yeovil Town are back in SkyBet League One action this coming Saturday as the Glovers travel to take on promotion chasing Rochdale.
‘Dale currently sit in 8th place in the League One table, just three points behind the play off places.
As we know, Yeovil are currently sat bottom of the pile on just 33 points, a full 20 fewer than Saturday’s opponents.
However, Yeovil have been on an eleven day break from competitive action since losing 2-0 away at Colchester on 17th March.
Meanwhile, Rochdale have played twice since then, beating Scunthorpe last Saturday before losing 3-0 to Oldham in midweek.
The Glovers’ enforced break came as a result of Bristol City’s involvement in the Johnstones’ Paint Trophy final.
Yeovil did have a midweek fixture, but not in the league. Terry Skiverton took his men to Larkhall Athletic in the Somerset Premier Cup.
The game saw Yeovil progress through to the next round after a penalty shoot-out victory over the non-leaguers.
The squad chosen gave the opportunity for some fringe players to stake their claim for places in the first team with Fergus Bell, Alex Smith and Sam Hoskins all getting some extended game time.
Liam Davis and Artur Krysiak also got some much needed match fitness following injury.
The game ended 1-1 in normal time with AJ Leitch Smith scoring the Glovers’ goal.
Rochdale’s form has been hit and miss, some impressive wins have been succeeded by some heavy losses. Interestingly, Rochdale haven’t drawn a game in 2 months, since they shared the points with Coventry at the back end of January.
The Dale’s team news surrounds the head injury sustained by midfielder Jamie Allan.
Manager, Keith Hill expects the youngster to be missing for the rest of the season after coming off against Oldham.
There are also concerns over three others; Peter Vicenti, Stephen “brother of Kevin” Dawson and Ashley Eastham were all struggling last time out.
So much was the concern over Eastham that Rochdale actually finished the game with 10 men due to all their substitutions being used up on earlier injuries.
For Yeovil, they have also been decimated this week, but more by international call ups.
Joel Grant has jetted of to represent Jamaica while all three Swansea loanees are with their countries too.
Josh Sheehan and Liam Shephard are with the Wales Under 21s and Stephen Kinglsey is with Scotland’s Under 21s.
All of this means that all of the other Glovers’ loanees are available for selection including Ben Nugent who played in the Somerset Cup in midweek.
In terms of injury, Artur Krysiak played his first game since suffering a head injury at Scunthorpe.
Joe Edwards looks likely to miss out however, his ankle injury against Crewe flared up again against Colchester. The Glovers’ skipper is in a race against time to be fit for Saturday.
When the two sides met earlier in the season, Rochdale came through the match at Huish Park with a comfortable 3-0 win.
Top scorer Ian Henderson scored twice after Jack O’Connell had opened the scoring.
Previously, however, the Glovers form against Rochdale has been decent; in 2011/12 season, the sides drew 0-0 at Spotland before Jonathan Franks, Richard Hinds and Michael Woods scored in a 3-1 Yeovil win.
Of course, Rochdale is also the scene of Yeovil’s first ever Football League fixture back in 2003.
Kevin Gall and Lee Johnson scored in a 3-1 Glovers win that day.
Over all, Yeovil win the head to heads with four wins to ‘Dale’s three.
Tickets for Saturday’s game are available on the day, priced at £20 for adults.
If you’re not making the trip to Lancashire this Saturday then never fear, the game will be available in full on Glovers Player.
The next home game at Huish Park is the Good Friday clash against Chesterfield where the game has been designated as a kids-for-a-quid game.
Stay tuned to YouTube for the highlights of each game and keep in touch with the goings on from Spotland with social media on Twitter or Facebook by clicking the links.
Famous Fans
Comedian Tommy Cannon and Lisa Stansfield.
A foot in both camps
Kevin Amankwaah, Andy Bishop, Steve Collis, Ritchie Jones, Glenn Poole and Andrew Tutte,
Did you know?
Rochdale have been in the news this season as they have been given a set of heat lamps to help their pitch grow by local police.
The lamps were seized in raids on cannabis farms in the area and now aid the ground staff at Spotland.
