Yeovil Town vs Luton Town - Match Preview

Team News

Luton
After his sending-off on Saturday at Huddersfield, top scorer Paul Furlong is the main omission from the team. Furlong picked up a one match ban after being sent off for a second bookable offence on Saturday, but he will return for the Doncaster match. This will give manager Kevin Blackwell a selection

Furlong: Suspended tonight

dilemma for the trip to the West Country. Strikers Sam Parkin and Paul Peschisolido are both still injured, so it is likely that Drew Talbot will start in place of Furlong. Whether Kevin will play with two strikers or one remains to be seen, as Talbot is a completely different player to Furlong and may not be as well suited to a lone striker role. If two strikers play, then Talbot could be partnered by Dean Morgan, Paul McVeigh or possibly even Calvin Andrew.

The rest of the team will either stay the same or be changed, which is obvious really. Ben Alnwick will probably stay in goal, and the defence is almost certain to stay the same, with Keith Keane thought to be not ready to return to the first-team yet. Richard Jackson and Alan Goodall are almost certain to keep their places, but Chris Coyne may threaten either Chris Perry or Jaroslaw Fojut in the hunt for a first-team place, although admittedly it is unlikely. There may also be a place for the returning David Edwards. Edwards is one of the very few Blackwell signings that has really impressed at Luton so far, and he may return in place of Steve Robinson. David Bell and Matthew Spring are almost certain to keep their places, and Dean Morgan is in the wrong position to be replaced by Edwards. Although Blackwell has suggested he may make a lot of changes, it is difficult to know what these changes could be, as Kevin doesn't seem to know what his best team is. He may as well make changes to try and find a team just right, because the same team don't seem to be capable of picking up points away from home. A lot of people saw Huddersfield as a good opportunity to finally get some away points, but Yeovil is theoretically a much tougher fixture.

Predicted Team: Alnwick (GK), Goodall (DL), Jackson (DR), Fojut (DC), Perry (DC), Morgan (ML), Bell (MR), Spring (MC), Robinson (MC), McVeigh (SC), Talbot (SC)

Yeovil
Yeovil have quite a severe injury problem at the moment that could cause them a problem. Their main problem could come with the injury to skipper Terry Skiverton. He will probably miss tonights match with a groin injury, and he isn't the only player who will miss out either. Former Notts County keeper Steve Mildenhall has a hip problem that sees him miss out, and Gary Dempsey, Justin Cochrane, Marvin Williams and Lee Morris have all joined him on the injury list. Injuries were probably the main reason for Yeovil slipping to a 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Goals from Adam Chambers, Junior Agogo and Kris Commons saw off Yeovil, who had actually started the season very well. Yeovil have actually lost their last two league home matches, after a 1-0 defeat to Leyton Orient a fortnight before, with Adam Boyd scoring for Orient. Yeovil's away record is better than their home record, with the Glovers winning 3 out of 4 away, and just once at home. They are currently 7th in the league, four points ahead of Luton, and although their home record is poor, it has to be said that it is considerably better than Luton's away record.

Connections
Due to Yeovil's league history not being a very long one at the moment, there are very few notable connections between the two clubs. However, two players in recent years have played for both teams. Michael McIndoe

Sodje: In his Yeovil days

featured for Yeovil in the Conference between the years 2001 and 2003. He played 92 matches and scored 22 goals, making a big contribution to their promotion from the Conference. After subsequent moves to Doncaster, Derby and Wolves, McIndoe can now be found at newly-promoted Bristol City. Everyone's favourite bandana wearing defender, Efetobore Sodje, also played for Yeovil and Luton. He played for Yeovil in the 2005-06 season, making 25 appearances and scoring 3 goals for the Glovers, and just like at Huddersfield and Macclesfield, the Yeovil club shop apparently sold replicas of his trademark bandana. Somewhat surprisingly, there is a more spurious connection with Yeovil in the post-war days. Alec Stock was the Yeovil manager between 1946 and 1949, where he once led the Glovers on a great giant-killing run, where they beat Bury and Sunderland before finally being defeated against Manchester United. Stock would later go on to manage Luton, and win promotion from the old Third Division in his time between 1968 and 1972.

Past Meetings
There isn't really much point in this section for tonight's game, because the two teams have actually only met the once. For the record, the two teams first met in 2003. Luton won 4-1 in what was Yeovil's first ever match in the

Foley: Scored first goal against Yeovil

League Cup, after just coming up from the Conference the season before. In that match, Kevin Foley put Luton ahead after 25 minutes with what was his first ever Luton Town goal. Just after half time, Luton were given a scare when Emmerson Boyce kindly scored Yeovil's first ever league goal. However, 3 second half goals in 12 minutes from Tony Thorpe, Courtney Pitt and Steve Howard ensured that Luton safely passed through to the next round of the Carling Cup, in what was Mike Newell's second match in charge. Both teams had a very similar end to the season. Luton finished just outside the play-offs, an excellent position considering the team was still in administration from the Gurney period, and Yeovil finished a place outside the play-offs, which was excellent considering they had only just got themselves promoted. Both Luton and Yeovil would win their respective divisions the next season, and since then Yeovil's fortunes have been better than Luton's.

From the Luton squad that beat Yeovil in 2003, only four of the players are still at Luton. Only Matthew Spring is likely to play out of those players. Spring and Chris Coyne both started the match, and Sol Davis later appeared as a substitute, with Dean Brill an unused sub.

Prediction
With Yeovil's injury problems and apparent loss of home form, today could have been a good opportunity for Luton to pick up some points. However, Saturday's result and performance has meant I have lost all confidence in the team that was gained from the Charlton win. I know it is fickle of me, but I can't help thinking Yeovil will sneak a 2-1 win, or maybe win more comfortably.