Yeovil Town takeover saga not distracting Darren Sarll ahead of Barnet opener

The protracted takeover at Yeovil Town is not distracting Darren Sarll as he prepares to take charge of his first league game in the Glovers hotseat.

Yeovil head to Barnet for their Vanarama National League opener on Saturday with the proposed takeover by Errol Pope and Scott Priestnall that has been rumbling on throughout the summer still not complete.

Somerset Live understands that the deal is edging closer to being finalised and the club is due to make an announcement regarding the takeover in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Sarll says his only focus is on preparing his team for the trip to The Hive as Yeovil re-adjust to life outside of the EFL for the first time in 16 years.

He said: "The takeover doesn't stop anyone from running, it doesn't stop anyone from jumping and heading it, it certainly doesn't stop Rhys Murphy from shooting at goal.

"As much as we are all aware of the situation, and not knowing is always a thing in the back of your mind. I'd like to think that it's something we can't control and something we can't affect, and therefore it's not something worth worrying about.

"I think it's a lot harder for the supporters, because they're not in the building day in, day out, like I am, and they're not in with potentially the new owner and the current owners and they haven't got that benefit of what I have in going in and coming out and hearing this and that.

"It is what it is, I would like it to conclude just so people can stop talking about it and I can crack on either way, but I'm sure that the people who are dealing with that are working as hard as they can to come to that conclusion.

"All I've got to do is make sure that the lads are prepared and they run hard, they've got a good work ethic and togetherness and they work for the supporters that are going to travel two hours and 40 minutes to The Hive on Saturday because we have a duty to those people."

Yeovil will be without new signing Luke Wilkinson, who has been absent throughout pre-season, for their season opener, while Carl Dickinson is a doubt after missing the club's friendly win over Bristol City on Saturday.

New signing Rhys Murphy will be assessed ahead of the trip to Barnet, with the striker having not trained this week after being removed late on against Bristol City.

With Sarll keen not to place any unrealistic expectations on his players, he is looking to give the Glovers faithful something to cheer as the campaign kicks off.

He added: "I've been really pleased with how realistic the supporters have been.

"The supporters just want a season where we have a largely win to loss ratio in the winning margins, and that's the kind of message I've felt from them.

"At no point have they stuck a finger in my face and shouted 'get them promoted Darren, get us promoted'. I want to win every game I can, because as I said it's such a thrill and such a rush, to be able to clap your supporters when you've won.

"That pride, that real sort of glowing feeling in the pits of your stomach is a wonderful feeling and that is the addiction in a nutshell, it's being able to do that.

"I'm looking forward to producing a team with a very different mentality and hopefully a very different style of playing, but more importantly a winning team.

"Who cares what it looks like for the next six months while we're developing this team? Let's just grab as many wins, as many points and stockpile them as often as we can and see when January comes around, how close we are to that top end."