7th February 2014
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MATCHBALL SPONSOR – MN8 CONSULTING SERVICES

Yeovil Town are back in SkyBet Championship action this Saturday as they host Leeds United.

The game has been moved to a 12:15 kick off to accommodate Sky’s TV Cameras, but for those who are attending in person, it’s worth noting that tickets will not be available on the day.

If you cannot make it to Huish Park in person before the end of business on Friday, please call in advance to secure your ticket. You may be asked for evidence of your previous purchases with YTFC.

With over 2000 Leeds fans making the trip early on Saturday and tickets in the home end selling well, it’s hoped that the atmosphere will be electric for a vital three points.

Yeovil are glad to be back at home after a stretch of four away games in a row, the last time the Glovers played at Huish Park was back on the 11th of January.

Since then, it’s been trips to Birmingham for an impressive 2-0 win, Southampton where the Premier League outfit knocked Yeovil out of the FA Cup before valiant performances in defeat at both Derby and Nottingham Forest.

As for Leeds and their build up to the game, well, where to begin?

The media focus around Elland Road has been about the goings on off the field more than on it, with takeovers and management changes, coming and going, to put it all into words may take longer than the average preview can offer.

At the time of writing, former Glover Brian McDermott was the manager of the side and a takeover to Italian Massimo Cellino seems to be edging closer, but as has been the goings on over the past week there’s no guarantee either will still be the case by the time kick off comes around.

McDermott was quoted this week as saying “I just hope football breaks out here”, so he will have his players focused on the fixture.

Last week, without McDermott in charge, they thumped local rivals Huddersfield Town 5-1.

However results prior to that hadn’t been all going their way; they didn’t win at all in January and that included a 6-0 humbling against Sheffield Wednesday and exiting the FA Cup at the hands of League Two Rochdale.

Their last win was back on December 14th, a 3-0 victory over Doncaster.

That run of form has seen the whites drop to 11th in the division, a full eight points off the play offs.

Bad form aside, Ross McCormack is leading the line as the top scorer in the division has already notched over 20 times this season.

Fellow striker Matt Smith is available again for the visitors; he served a three match ban following a sending off.

Elsewhere, the Yorkshire side are likely to include both Lee Peltier and Cameron Stewart in their travelling squad; both could make appearances against a side they previously represented.

Stewart has already played at Huish Park once this season, for his first loan side, Charlton Athletic, scoring in a dramatic 2-2 draw.

For the hosts, Ishmael Miller is back in contention having had to sit out the Nottingham Forest game due to a clause in his loan agreement.

New signing Tom Lawrence impressed in that game as did the Glovers’ scorer Kieffer Moore and with manager Gary Johnson praising Adam Morgan in the local press this week, attacking options are looking healthy at Huish Park.

Defender Liam Davis could well be back in the squad too, the left sided player has progressed after injury well and could make a shock early return.

However, it is still too early for either Sam Hoskins or Nathan Ralph who will both watch from the stands.

The two clubs have met a number of times before, when Leeds spent a number of seasons in League One, but there is one previous meeting at this level we can refer to.

The Whites overcame Yeovil at Elland Road by a score of 2-0 when a second half double from that man McCormack was the only difference.

On that day in November, Yeovil had more possession, more shots and more corners but couldn’t convert that pressure into goals.

Before that, the last meeting was back in 2010. A 2-1 defeat for Yeovil at home and a 4-0 thumping at Elland Road.

It doesn’t get much better the further back you look, another 4-0 thrashing and a couple of 1-0 results in Leeds’ favour, but we can take some joy from the 1-1 draw in 2008.

Lloyd Owusu converted the rebound from a saved penalty, winning a point for the home side that day.

The Glovers will be hoping to notch their first ever win against Leeds and with the TV Cameras in town there will be no better time to do it.

Supporters are advised that with a bumper crowd expected to arrive in plenty of time ahead of the early kick off.

With the weather in Somerset as wet and windy as it has ever been anyone making the trip to Huish Park is advised to keep their eyes peeled for match information on ytfc.net, travel information on local radio and to make sure their travel arrangements are both passable and you allow plenty of time to make the journey.

For anyone who isn’t coming to Huish Park, you can either watch the game on Sky Sports, or listen to it on Glovers player for a slightly more green and white tint to proceedings.

As ever, the club’s social networks will have the key events and post-match reaction covered.

With Yeovil at home six times out of their next seven games, it’s now the time to get behind Gary Johnson and the team as the side aim to climb out of the bottom three.

Famous Fans – who might you, bump into in line for a hotdog?
Pretty much all of the band the Kaiser Chiefs, Radio funny man Chris Moyles, Golfer Nick Faldo, most of the cast of Emmerdale, as well as the biggest of names in pop music… Gareth Gates and Scary Spice.

A foot in both camps, who have represented both sides?
Lee Pelteir, Alex McCarthy, Brian McDermott, Paul Huntington, Andros Townsend, Martin Woods,  Terry Connor, Ben Gordon, Michael Woods  and Canadian Josh Wagenaar and whites’ new boy Cameron Stewart.