Exeter City have to keep good run going against bottom side Cambridge United.
The U’s arrive in Devon bottom of League One, with only one point from their first eight league games.
GARY Caldwell understands all too well that poor results and bare statistics do not necessarily indicate that a team is not performing properly. The Exeter City manager has issued a warning to their players before of today’s match against Cambridge United.
The U’s come in Devon at the bottom of League One with only one point from their first eight games, and they were seconds away from a second point of the season in midweek as former Grecians striker Sam Nombe scored in injury time to give Rotherham United a 1-0 win at Abbey Stadium.
Things may not be going Cambridge’s way right now, but that can change quickly, as Caldwell and City discovered last season. In fact, after such a promising start last year, City fell on a 14-game losing streak in League One. But they got through it, and the rest is, as they say, history.
“It will be a really difficult game,” Caldwell predicted. “I believe we all understand that at this level, no matter where you are in the league, every club is dangerous and capable of beating you. I believe we discovered last year that a difficult run does not make you a terrible squad. It implies you’re in a terrible situation, and it just takes one victory to transform your season, like we did last year.
“We know where they are in the league is something we have to watch out for, and we know they’re a very good team when they get it right, which we hope isn’t this weekend.”
“We have to make sure we are at our best to win the game because on Tuesday night, I witnessed a team against Rotherham that was quite competitive, could have easily won the game, but lost it very late. That can happen in football, so we need to be prepared for a big challenge on Saturday.
It would be unsurprising to see Cambridge arrive in Devon and set up defensively, putting the onus on the Grecians to break them down and cope with the type of gamesmanship associated with clubs struggling at the wrong end of the table and in need of points.
City, on the other hand, should be confident, with only one defeat in the previous seven games, seven points from the last three league games, and a plethora of fit players. The problem, however, is how much the trip and back-to-back away games at Wigan and then Leyton Orient have sapped their physical and mental energy. And here is where fans may help raise the team.
“We analyse every opponent, we respect every opponent, we adapt, we do what we need to do to win the game,” says Caldwell. “There will be things we need to do on Saturday to ensure we’re psychologically prepared to win the game, but tactically, we always approach each team the same way. We’ll examine their strengths and weaknesses and work on them to be ready to go and win the game, but I believe this game, after a difficult week in terms of travel and point accumulation, which is fantastic, requires us to concentrate, and that includes players, staff, and supporters.
“We have to make sure that we bring energy to the stadium on Saturday because if we come up expecting to win then that’s when you come unstuck, so we have to be ready, and 100 per-cent committed from the stands on to the pitch to go and win the game.”
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