Our Assistant Manager Terry Skiverton can draw upon his experiences with former club Yeovil, as we aim to see off non-league Weymouth at the second attempt tonight.
The vast majority of Terry’s playing career and in the dugout was spent with the Somerset club - and he’s sampled derby encounters with our visitors from Dorset this evening. A win for the Dons would book another tie at home to Chesterfield in the second round of the FA Cup.
“I’ve got inside information on Weymouth, because of the close rivalry with Yeovil Town.” said Terry. “It took a replay when I was at Yeovil last season to beat Weymouth and it went to penalties. It was a real tight, tense affair.
“Me being at Yeovil before, they were the greatest giant killers. They took the most scalps of league teams, so I know what it’s like on the other side of the coin. They’ll be coming here looking to cause an upset and we need to make sure that we stand up and fight and take the game to them.
“When you go to those little grounds, ones that are really tight and the supporters are all packed in, these were factors that we maybe didn’t take into account in that first game, because it was difficult to defend. In the first half we were very comfortable, but in the second half we were very uncomfortable. The lads knew we got away with one.”
While we’ll be without defender Chris Gunter, who is now away with Wales on World Cup duty, we will welcome back joint top scorer Ayoub Assal from a one-game suspension.
“With the confidence and the run that we’ve been on, the boys are all really buoyant,” said Terry. “Ayoub comes straight back into the squad. We’ve got Alex Pearce and George Marsh back and there’s one or two that maybe back in the next month or so. Things are looking good.
“We really want to put on a good performance at home for the fans, under the lights. As we know, it’s special there when you get a good atmosphere at Plough Lane. There’s no better feeling than winning there, anywhere else up and down the country doesn’t come close to that!
“We’ve had to adjust and think as to what the supporters want, and they want to see us get towards the box a lot quicker. I feel that the way we’re doing that, we’re giving them something to get behind early. We want to get the supporters going.”
In an extensive interview, Terry also spoke about the imminent return of Brentford loanee Nathan Young-Coombes. We’re also monitoring closely the development of striker Zach Robinson, on a season-long loan to Dundee.
“I’ve been having dialogue with Steven Pressley, Brentford’s Head of Individual Development, on a regular basis about the players we’ve got on loan from there. Nathan is champing at the bit; he’s been here at the last few games. He’s very, very close to returning and we can’t wait for him to be back in the building. He’ll be a welcome return.”
Pics: Pro Sports Images.
You can see the full, in-depth interview with Assistant Manager Terry Skiverton below, via the link to our official YouTube channel.