2nd July 2020

Darren Sarll is delighted to be back in the thick of things as Yeovil Town step up their play-off preparations ahead of the eliminator clash against Barnet.

With the world put to a standstill, the Glovers were left to wait three months to find out their fate after flirting with promotion contention all season, and in June it was finally confirmed play-off football would return to Huish Park.

Speaking to YTTV as his side returned to training, the gaffer said; “It’s nice to see everyone, it’s a good group to be with, they always make things quite interesting and entertaining this set of players, so it’s been good. Nice to get out the house!

“I’m not one for Zoom calls and things, it’s not really my style, they’re grown men so if they needed me, they could contact me whenever they needed a question answering or an update.”

With his side not having played since victory over Dover in March, the clash with Barnet is a unique circumstance with such a long period of time building up to it.

Speaking on the preparation, Sarll said; “We’ve just got to get back to training. You can do all the road running in the world, but nothing replicates playing football. When you come back, you have to work through the protocols and safety procedures that the government has put in place for elite sport, the Premier League, the EFL have had to follow it and now us.

“It doesn’t matter how many road runs you’ve done or how many times Jimmy Smith has posted his 5k times on Instagram, it’s not about that. As soon as the balls come out your body is tested and moved in completely different ways.

“We’ve just tried to get back into having the ball, running with a ball and any sort of twisting and turning because that’s the one thing they’ve not had, and we prepare as we have to. The good thing for us is we have played largely the same system, utilising a similar formation and strategy for the majority of the season. So, it’s just reminders and getting going!”