There are some defeats that linger in the mind for days on end, there are some that are easier to move on from, last week’s loss against Cambridge was the latter. This team had been criticised for not creating enough, we certainly did that against Cambridge, the opposition just so happened to have scored more goals than we did.
While we should have taken at least a point last week, there has to be some concern that we conceded two fairly soft goals that saw us defeated. The danger now is that one unfortunate result last week could easily, and quickly, be the start of a poor run of form given our run of fixtures over the next week – the league leaders, followed by a trip to Swindon where we never win, and then a fairly strong Crewe side, who also happen to be a bit of a bogey team for us as well.
I would imagine that over the next week we’ll get a truer sense over whether our strong defensive record thus far has been down to good play on our part, or the result of having played some of the weaker teams at this level. While we’ve conceded few goals, we haven’t been put under the cosh for extended periods in games thus far. If we can continue to avoid the issue as we have been this season over the next week, we’ll stand in good stead, however, this could be where the cracks start to appear.
On the positive side, it is encouraging that we seem to have become more fluent in attack over the past few weeks. The inclusion of Duckens Nazon into the side, and in a central position, has added something to the team – not least the sense that he draws some of the attention away from Jodi Jones, who has been excellent of late. Additionally, Liam Kelly seems to have taken the handbrake off in recent weeks, adding some dynamism to the centre of the park, and Peter Vincenti has been getting in better positions too.
Not only because of the attacking improvements we’ve made in recent weeks, but also because of our injury list, Mark Robins is unlikely to change the side at all. Stuart Beavon is probably the only player in that starting XI who is underperforming, however, his work-rate could prove an asset against an Exeter side who’ll look to get on the ball against us.
Last Time We Met
Although you have to go back some time for our last league meeting with Exeter City, we did face them a few years ago in the then Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. It was during our first season back at the Ricoh Arena where we were in the midst of a run of defeats when Steven Pressley gave run-outs to some of our most promising young talents – James Maddison, George Thomas and Jack Finch – and an Aaron Phillips brace saw us run-out comfortable victors.
The game was also notable for seeing Ollie Watkins – Exeter’s star player of last season and now a regular in the Championship with Brentford – score his first goal for the club.
How Are They Doing?
Exeter’s run to the play-off final last season was seen by many (well, at least me) as something of an outlier, a case of a club on limited resources stumbling across some stand-out talents and riding the crest of that wave for all it was worth. Despite losing in disappointing fashion to Blackpool, Exeter have gone from strength-to-strength this season and are not only currently top of the division but are on an ominous run of six league wins in a row.
That is despite losing their two star attacking players from last season in Ollie Watkins and David Wheeler, and, to a lesser extent, the inconsistent winger Joel Grant and wunderkind Ethan Ampadu – who made his debut for Chelsea this week. A club of Exeter’s resources is always going to find it hard to rebuild, but Paul Tisdale deserves immense credit for having done it almost seamlessly this season.
Despite signing target-man Jayden Stockley for a club record fee, along with the talented ex-Crystal Palace defensive midfielder Hiram Boateng, on the final day of the transfer window, Paul Tisdale has kept the starting line-up fairly similar to last season. Crucially, League Two goal machine Reuben Reid has been kept fit despite his reputation for being injury-prone – he now leads the league with seven goals already this season. In addition, wide men Jake Taylor and Lee Holmes provide Exeter with two direct wingers on either side of the pitch who are capable of chipping in with the odd goal.
In defence, Exeter have the excellent Jordan Moore-Taylor who is one of the most adept defenders at this level in passing out from the back. Behind him, there is Christy Pym in goal who has won caps at youth-level for England and is developing into one of the best goalkeepers at this level of football. Exeter also have the sturdiness and experience of the likes of Troy Brown and Craig Woodman, as well as the experienced Dean Moxey – who is yet to feature this season.
While Exeter are in incredible form at the moment, they have been fairly open in their style of play. It’s one of those games where if we can grab the early goal, there will be chances to hit our opponents repeatedly on the break. If Exeter score first though, you’d wonder whether we’d have the ability to get back into the game.
Prediction
Exeter are ominous opposition for us, they’re riding the crest of the wave and a victory at the Ricoh Arena for them would be a coup de grace to crystallise the good feeling around the club. However, I wonder whether Robins’ pragmatism, his ability to instill a good defensive shape and set a counter-attacking game-plan could prove to be an asset for us here. This is one of few games this season against an opponent at the Ricoh Arena who’ll set out to bring the game to us.
Nonetheless I am fairly tentative about our chances for this game, I have this down as a 2-1 loss.
Sideways Sammy 