Terry Skiverton’s playing days under Gary Johnson at Yeovil Town have helped minimise the disruption usually brought about by new management, according to Bondz N’Gala.

The former Plymouth and West Ham defender arrived at Huish Park in the summer after then-boss Skiverton had tracked his progress since his days as a youngster with the Hammers.

However, with the Glovers in the League One drop zone at the turn of the year, chairman John Fry and his board of directors opted for a new direction at the team’s helm.

Johnson, the club’s most successful manager, returned with his former captain Skiverton stepping down to become assistant.

N’Gala said there were clear differences between the two, but added that Skiverton had evidently learned plenty from Yeovil’s climb from non-league to their current position in the third tier.

The centre-half said: “The gaffer (Johnson) seems to know what he wants from us and he is trying to put that across. As long as we apply that, we will be all right.

“To be fair, they (Johnson and Skiverton) are quite similar. Terry will have played under the gaffer and brought in a few of the same philosophies, so it is quite similar, with a slight difference.”

Yeovil entertain Preston North End today and, despite the Deepdale outfit bringing a formidable reputation after being relegated from the Championship at the end of last season, N’Gala said he and his team-mates would enter the game in a confident mood.

“It is definitely an important game and it was nice to get the win against Tranmere the last time we played at home,” he said.

“Hopefully, we can continue that form. It is about building and gaining momentum and if we sort our games at home and a nick a few away, we will all right. Preston are one of the big teams in the division, but we are all in the same division for a reason and anyone can beat anyone.

“I think we stand a good chance on Saturday. We definitely want to be involved in these games and it is good to test yourself against players that have played at a higher level. You expect to play a good team after they game down. With Graham Westley in charge, he will want to implement what he had at Stevenage and it will be a good test for us. I think we will definitely stand up to it.

“It will be an interesting match-up in terms of the managers’ philosophies. Hopefully we can keep a clean-sheet, score a few goals and get the three points.

“The gates seem to have gone up over Christmas and, hopefully, we can continue that. If we keep winning, I am sure people will keep coming.”

Max Ehmer’s return to Queen’s Park Rangers earlier this month has handed N’Gala a steadier run in the team and the London-born player said he is hungry to learn.

He said: “I am still young and learning the game, so I try to learn something every day and that will stand me in good stead for my career.”

Yeovil (from): Walker, Stewart; Edwards, Ayling, Jones, N’Gala, Huntington, Haynes-Brown, Youga, Upson, Parrett, Edgar, Dickson, A Williams, G Williams, MacLean, Agard, Obika, Gibson, Slowe, Clarke.