Grecians boss looks ahead to Bristol Rovers clash
EXETER CITY manager Paul Tisdale has targeted a third successive win when Bristol Rovers visit St James Park this weekend.The Gas, who lost at home to Stevenage in midweek, meet a City side that have won well away at both Plymouth Argyle and Mansfield Town to earn six points which have propelled the Grecians up the table.
"We're in the business to win games; we understand winning and losing, we've won two in succession, and we're hoping to make it three in a row this week," Paul said. "It has a big impact on morale and confidence, especially when we've used so many players. We've used a large chunk of the squad in these last two games, and everyone is very pleased that so many players have had an impact on those results, and we're very much looking forward to this weekend.
"Priority number one is trying to pick a team and system that will compete with the opposition. I'm certainly not going to use the squad at the expense of losing a point or two, but it's done no harm the way it is. The point is that we have to pick the best team for the match. I knew that Tuesday would be a very different game to Saturday, so I picked a team accordingly. We've got some real competition for places now, and that's a nice problem to have for a manager.
"It's not just about having players available, but also about having them motivated. It is a hard thing to achieve, and there are other teams in the league that may have the lack of continuity that we had through October and going into November, in terms of players being injured. We've got to keep the players fit, for them to understand and identify with what they are being asked to do. Over the course of a league season, you hope that you'll get what you deserve. It's about minimising the mistakes and getting it right in competitive situations.
"Danny Butterfield will still be out this weekend, but everyone else will be in a position to train on Friday at least. I'm not one hundred per cent on everyone, but we haven't got too many missing.
"This will be a cracking game in terms of it being a local derby, and we haven't played Rovers for a couple of years now. They have a really, really good away record - I'm sure that they're disappointed with their home record, but they are a competitive side. They've come up from the Conference and retained the large part of their squad, which brings a continuity that gives an edge over a lot of teams. They have been a hard-working, successful, efficient team on the road this year, so whatever we think about their home form, their away form tells a story. We'd be foolish to ignore that."