Preview: Yeovil (h)

The road trip is over as the Owls return to S6. Can we get back to winning ways against Yeovil?

A point at the MK Dons saw the Owls end a subpar January, despite all that the Owls are still amongst the thick of it at the top end of the division. We’re in the midst of a blip at home but we can get back to it against Gary Johnson’s Yeovil.

All stats come from Soccerbase and Soccernet

Last Home Game	Opposition	Result	Shots	On Target	Corners	Cards	Fouls	Possession
WEDNESDAY	Hartlepool	D 2-2	13	5	4	0	7	55%

Last Away Game	Opposition	Result	Shots	On Target	Corners	Cards	Fouls	Possession
YEOVIL	Bury	L 3-2	16	12	5	0	6	45%

The Owls endured a frustrating time against Hartlepool last time out at S6. A Jermaine Johnson special and Gary Madine put the Owls 2-1 ahead but an error by Nicky Weaver enabled Pool to equalise in a game that Wednesday arguably should have put to bed long before.

Yeovil’s last away game has become infamous due to the penalty incident between Steven Schumacher and Giles Coke. The actual game itself was a comedy of errors with both sides making mistakes, statistically Yeovil just about had the better of it except in the all important goals count.

LAST 5 GAMES	MK Dons (a)	Blackpool (a)	Scunthorpe (a)	Hartlepool (h)	Charlton (h)
Wednesday	D 1-1	D 1-1	W 1-3	D 2-2	L 0-1

LAST 5 GAMES	Preston (h)	Bury (a)	Tranmere (h)	Sheffield United (a)	Exeter (a)
Yeovil	W 2-1	L 3-2	W 2-1	L 4-0	D 1-1

The Owls have only won one out of the last five, probably our most barren spell of the season to date, January wasn’t a good month for us in the league either with the Owls nabbing just 8 of an available 15 points, although defeat has been tasted just once all can be considered points dropped in the circumstances.

Yeovil have had mixed fortunes since Gary Johnson returned to the club, they lost their first game heavily at Bramall Lane but came back to beat Tranmere. The Glovers have been notoriously poor travellers this term with only a solitary win at Hartlepool to date this term and are also goalshy on the road with only fellow strugglers Rochdale,Exeter and Walsall scoring fewer on their travels.

HEAD 2 HEAD	WEDNESDAY WINS	YEOVIL WINS	DRAWS
	3	0	2

LAST MEETING
17th September 2011, Huish Park – Att – 4445
Yeovil 2-3 Wednesday
(K Agard 28,38)(D McGoldrick 10,J Bennett 53,G Madine 72)

The first meeting between the sides was in January 1939 when a Jackie Robinson goal saw Wednesday draw with Yeovil & Petters United at Hillsborough. Idris Lewis and Charlie Napier saw the Owls avoid becoming another victim of a Yeovil cup upset.

Last season saw the Owls win 2-0 at Huish Park and draw the reverse game 2-2 at Hillsborough in Alan Irvine’s last days as Wednesday’s manager. The Trevor Kettle show took centrestage as a missed penalty and the Owls inability to capitalise on two red cards saw a resilient Yeovil side earn a point.

This season’s meeting wasn’t without controversy either as Kieran Agard’s strike following a mix-up between Rob Jones and Richard O’Donnell whilst perfectly legal wasn’t exactly kosher in the sportsmanship stakes.

MEGSON’S MOB

It was a bizarre midfield selection on Tuesday and we lacked bite in that department. New boy John Bostock may be pushing for a debut and Chris Lines will also be wanting a recall. Rob Jones missed the MK Dons game and may be a doubt for this one, Llera will continue to fill in if this is the case.

Yeovil have bolstered their defence by signing ex-Owl Richard Hinds on a short term contract. One of the Cardiff 2005 heroes may also play his part against us but Steven Maclean has had a very disappointing season netting just 4 goals.

Paul Huntington will miss this game as he begins a three game ban after a sending off against Preston North End.

 BYWATER

	BUXTON		BATTH		LLERA		R JOHNSON
	PRUTTON		LINES		SEMEDO		BOSTOCK
			O’GRADY		MADINE

KEY PLAYERS – TOP TRUMPS

Gary Madine is still our top scorer despite missing a fair chunk of the season due to injury, with 12 goals he is our talisman and most potent goal threat but has only scored once since his return against Charlton, he has previous against Yeovil scoring in his last two appearances against the Glovers, his strike at Huish Park in September being the winner.

Andy Williams scored twice against Preston last weekend and took his goal tally to 7 becoming the head of Yeovil’s scoring charts, capable of playing on the wing or upfront, the former Hereford and Bristol Rovers man has been mainly utilised as a striker this term for the Glovers.

THE BETTING BOX:5 OF THE BEST

BET	Wednesday WIN	Yeovil WIN	DRAW	Madine 1st Goal	Correct Score 3-1
BEST ODDS	4/7	6/1	10/3	7/2	11/1
BOOKIES

Yet again Wednesday enter a Hillsborough tie heavy favourites with Coral being the most generous offering odds of 4/7. Yeovil are rank outsiders and are as far out as 6/1 with Skybet. The draw is 10/3 at Chandlers.

New boy Bostock is 12/1 to score first in a potential Hillsborough debut with Skybet and a bet that usually manages to tempt me is Reda at 25/1 with Coral, if you’re of the ilk who believes old players nearly always score against us Steven Maclean is 11/1 with bet365.

In fact I’m going to back the goal machine Gary Madine here, have him at 7/2 for the first goal with Skybet or if you want to err on the side of caution go for the 11/10 anytime with bet365.

HERE COMES D-JUDGE

It was disappointing not to come back from stadium:mk with 3 points in the bag and we have to get back on track here against a side that doesn’t travel well and struggles to score goals away from home.

We should have too much for the Glovers but it is imperative for me that we approach the game positively and ask more questions of the opposition back four than we did at Milton Keynes.

I dread to think of the reaction if we fail to win but that won’t happen here

VERDICT:- Our heroes finally get back on track at base with a convincing 3-1 victory.

Danny (D-Good)
Owls Alive
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