A welcome to Yeovil

Last updated : 17 August 2013 By Tony Scholes

The preview is usually broken up into three sections; the preview, the last time we played them and a list of past results against them. For the most obvious reason, that this is the first time the clubs have ever met, the latter two sections will today be missing.

I can find no trace of even a friendly against them and after today's game it will leave only Crawley, Dagenham & Redbridge, Fleetwood and Stevenage as the only Football League clubs we haven't played competitively.

I suppose you could add Accrington, Newport and Wimbledon to that list but we have played clubs who have previously carried those names.

We go into the game having got off to a decent enough start to the season. A home draw against Bolton two weeks ago was followed by wins in Yorkshire against York and Sheffield Wednesday, the first of them in the Capital One Cup.

We've played well, and certainly had some very good spells in all three games when we've looked a good side. We've also had periods when we've had some defending to do and, in the main, we've come out of that very well, particularly at Hillsborough last Saturday when the aerial bombardment might have seen lesser teams buckle.

Tom Heaton pleased with start made to kick off his Burnley career

One of the heroes of that rearguard action was goalkeeper Tom Heaton, the first of our summer signings. Speaking about those first three games, he said this week: "The performances have been very good. I think you've seen a couple of different faces to the team already.

"Against Bolton we played good stuff. Obviously that wasn't enough for all three points, but there were flashes of what we're all about.

"The York game was similar, but we had to stand up to a more physical challenge and last Saturday we perhaps didn't live up to performances previously, but we got two good goals ahead and stood up to their physicality late on.

"The defenders were throwing their bodies on the line for each other and you can't buy that. That is something that wins you football matches, especially in a division where everything is so tight, and when you've got a team willing to do that it's a massive bonus."

Heaton also referred to the size of the squad and that means we can't expect too many changes today from the team that's started those last three games.

Ben Mee returned to the bench last week, at the expense of Luke O'Neill, and assuming everyone is fit I'd expect it to be the same 18 players on duty, although that will depend on the fitness of Junior Stanislas and the returning international pair Danny Lafferty and Sam Vokes.

Stanislas was forced off just after the first goal last week. He certainly wasn't moving very freely but nothing has been said about the injury that brought about that first half substitution.

I initially thought it might have been a hamstring problem but it was a dead leg. If he's not fit then his place is most likely to be taken by Scott Arfield who replaced him a week ago.

Michael Duff is still not ready and so it would come as no surprise, should Stanislas be fit, to see us line up with the same team that's started the first three games.

If so our team will be: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Kevin Long, Jason Shackell, Danny Lafferty, Ross Wallace, Dean Marney, David Jones, Junior Stanislas, Danny Ings, Sam Vokes. Subs: Alex Cisak, David Edgar, Ben Mee, Brian Stock, Scott Arfield, Keith Treacy, Ryan Noble.

Our visitors Yeovil are ten years old in terms of the Football League. They won the 2002/03 Conference season and were promoted, along with first ever play-off winners Doncaster, at the expense of Exeter and Shrewsbury.

There's certainly never been a threat to them losing that league status since. In their first season they finished in 8th place and a year later were champions and on their way into League One.

Six of their first seven seasons after that promotion saw them placed between 14th and 18th in the table, the exception being in 2006/07 when they reached the play-offs where they won an astonishing semi-final against Nottingham Forest before losing 2-0 against Blackpool in the final.

They'd finished 5th that season so last season's 4th place finish was their best ever season and that became even better with a play-off success, beating Sheffield United in the semi and then Brentford in the Wembley final.

That success came, as did the previous two promotions, under the management of Gary Johnson. Having steered them to League One he left for Bristol City but, three managers on, he returned in January 2012 and in his first full season won them another promotion.

In doing so they have become only the third club to win automatic promotion from non-league to reach this level. The other two, Colchester and Doncaster, had previously been Football League clubs.

Onto this season and they've started it with two away wins and one home defeat with all three games ending 1-0. They won at Millwall in the league and Southend in the cup but were beaten in the first ever Championship game played at their Huish Park ground last Saturday against Birmingham.

That game has caused them a major problem this week. With just eight minutes gone they lost goalkeeper Marek Stech, who played a reserve game for Burnley almost two years ago, to a double fracture in his right hand with goalkeeping coach Gareth Stewart replacing him.

With no other goalkeeper they agreed a loan deal with Wolves for Wayne Hennessey but that fell through when he was injured on international duty. Hopes of bringing in another keeper have, at this time, not been successful although they do have until 12 noon to bring in a loan player.

They do have a new signing this week, however, in Cardiff's 19-year-old midfielder Joe Ralls. He signed on a six month loan deal making him their eighth summer signing, and the fourth of them on loan.

The player to look out for is Paddy Madden. He, like Stech, had a trial not too long ago at Turf Moor. Madden was here in December 2010. At the time he was with Bohemians in Ireland but a change of manager at Turf Moor ended his hopes of signing for us and instead he joined Carlisle.

He moved to Yeovil, initially on loan, in October 2012 and has netted 13 times in 22 league games for them.

As for the Yeovil team today; Jamie McAallister is a doubt. He's aggravated a knee injury during a midweek friendly against Plymouth during which Kieffer Moore impressed, scoring one of the goals in a 2-0 win.

Their likely line up this afternoon is: Gareth Stewart, Luke Ayling, Byron Webster, Daniel Seaborne, Alan Tate, Kevin Dawson, Edward Upson, Joe Edwards, Sam Foley, Paddy Madden, James Hayter. Subs: Michael Ngoo, Sam Hoskins, Billy Clifford, Liam Davis, Joel Grant, Joe Ralls, Kieffer Moore.