31st December 2013
MATCH SPONSOR  – LYNX COPIERS, YEOVIL

PROGRAMME SPONSOR – GREEN & WHITES SUPPORTERS CLUB

BALL SPONSOR – SHARON & DAVID LEE

Yeovil Town are finally coming towards the back end of a hectic festive period of fixtures, but it doesn’t get any easier in their quest for Sky Bet Championship survival on New Year’s Day.

It is back to Huish Park too, not only for the Glovers but for the Sky Sports cameras as Watford are the visitors for a 5:30pm kick off.

It was only a matter of weeks ago that Yeovil and Watford met in the reverse fixture, a match that will probably rank as one of the Yeovil fans’ best of the season, if not of the last few years.

Debutant, Ishmael Miller, Byron Webster and Joe Edwards all netted in a thrilling 3-0 victory over the Hornets who were then managed by Gianfranco Zola.

How times change, Zola tendered his resignation not long after and was swiftly replaced by fellow countryman Giuseppe Sannino who had formerly been at charge at Serie A side Chievo.

Sannino is actually undefeated in his three games in charge, two draws with QPR and Ipswich have sandwiched a 4-0 thumping of Millwall.

This mini run of form has seen Watford cement their place in mid table, they lie in 13th place only five points behind the play off positions and it also puts them a full 13 points ahead of the Glovers in 23rd.

With results involving those around the bottom of the table, suiting Yeovil quite nicely, the 5-1 defeat to Huddersfield didn’t do too much damage to the way the bottom three shapes up.

A single win could put Yeovil within just a point of Doncaster who lie in 21st, if you’re one for omens, Yeovil’s win against Watford earlier this season came off the back of two defeats, much like the current situation.

Of course, New Year’s Day is not only a  busy one for the teams and fans involved, it’s also the start of the transfer window and fax machines up and down the country will be getting a newly filled paper tray and a once over with a duster.

It will be no different down at Huish Park, as Shane Duffy’s loan extension will need to hit the desk of the FA in time for his inclusion that evening in the Glovers’ squad.

The other loans in the squad will also need dealing with over the coming days too; John Lundstram, Joe Ralls and Liam Fontaine’s deals all come to end within a week of the registration window opening.

Adam Morgan should be classed as a ‘contracted’ player by the time kick off comes around, leaving the other five loans all eligible to play a part in the squad if needed.

There are some fitness worries for the home side however, Goalkeeper Marek Stech and midfielder Ed Upson both limped off in the game on Sunday and both will need all the time possible to recover in order to make the fixture.

Byron Webster also missed out at the John Smith’s Stadium, it was hoped he may be available but was given the extra game off to recover from injury.

Two of the Hornet’s stars who missed out on Sunday were Fernando Forestieri and Ikechi Anya who have both reported knee and groin problems respectively.

Both sides are grateful for the FA’s amnesty on a single match ban for collecting five yellow cards as both squads have a number of players with four bookings in the bank.

The meeting between the two sides in November was actually the only meeting between the two sides competitively; I guess that puts the head-to-head record firmly in the Glovers’ favour. Who can knock a 100% win record?

As of yesterday (Monday), over 1000 Watford fans have already booked their place in the away end at Huish Park and tickets in the home end are also selling nicely.

The game is the final chance to save up to £5 on the price of a match-day price, when buying online using www.ytfc.net.

Tickets will be available on the day, but for anyone who can’t make it to Huish Park, the game is live on Sky Sports, available on Glovers Player and will be accompanied by all the usual pre and post-match reaction on the green and white’s social networks pages.

Famous Watford Fans.

Singer, Elton John. Sky Sports Presenter, Adam Leventhal. Football Manager supremo Miles Jacobson.

BBC Radio One reporter Chris Stark has also tried to sign up Jennifer Aniston and Mila Kunis as Hornets but with little success.

A Foot in Both Camps.

Reg Gilmartin, Liam Bridcutt, Dom Blizzard, Dale Bennett, Billy Gibson, Lee Johnson, Gifton Noel Williams, Colin Miles, Lewis Young. Not forgetting that a certain Gary Johnson was once on the management team at Vicarage Road.