Sam Crispin, Fan Blogger, 24th December 2009

"It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid..."

So goes the opening line of the most irritating Christmas song of the lot. But as we prepare to travel to Hampshire to play the once mighty Southampton on Boxing Day, the sentiment rings true.

It's probably not a game that many fans - whether they follow the Grecians, the Saints or somebody else - expect us to get anything from.

They are, or at least were, one of the biggest clubs in the country. In May 2003, the month that we dropped out of the Football League, they played in the FA Cup Final, and finished 8^th in the Premier League. They've got a Premier League sized ground, a former Premier League manager and some players in their team that cost more than our entire squad.

We, on the other hand, are undoubtedly one of the littl'uns of the league. A small budget, a small ground, comparatively small attendances and a team stuffed with players who used to ply their trade in the Conference.

It's a foregone conclusion, surely. Or is it?

We meet in the middle for a reason. We have, with a Southampton old boy at the helm, climbed two divisions to League One, playing some fantastic football and earning many plaudits along the way. They, meanwhile, have suffered two relegations to the same place, with financial and other off-field problems bringing about their downfall.

We're in the same division because, ultimately, you get what you deserve in football. We deserve to be in League One because we've spent the last few years playing some great football and managing ourselves sensibly off the pitch. On the other hand, a few years of mis-management and spending money they didn't have has seen them drop to the same place.

So we go in on equal footing in terms of the league we play in. But the game is another matter.

The fact that nobody will expect us to get anything from the game will surely work to our advantage. We have nothing to lose. We can go there, enjoy the day and play our football without any pressure.

They, on the other hand, will have 25,000 of their fans expecting them to top off their Christmas by handsomely beating the little bunch of visiting yokels from Devon.

They've got players that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and owners that appear willing to invest more - they will feel that 'little' clubs like Exeter should be brushed aside with relative ease.

But football's a funny old game, isn't it? Things don't always go to plan.

As someone who saw us get only narrowly beaten by Leeds United and Charlton, I've got a feeling we could sneak something. Third time lucky, if you will.

In those two games were some moments of fantastic football being played by City, and there were times when the teams we were playing - the mighty, ex-Premiership big-boys - were on the back foot, struggling to cope with Grecian onslaught.

A little bit more luck and we could quite feasibly have snatched a draw - or better - from both games.

Southampton's home record is decent, but certainly not perfect. They lost to Brighton there, drew with Norwich and only narrowly managed to beat Wycombe, a team below us in the league.Even Torquay managed a draw there, and they lose to everybody! We definitely have something to work with.

If we go to St Mary's with the carefree confidence of a team that isn't expected to get anything but a beating, we might just pull off a shock. If Harley can pull the strings in midfield, and if Matty Taylor and Troy can form a wall at the back, and if Stanno pesters their entire back four into mistakes like he did so well for 90 minutes last week, we might just be looking at a special day for our club.

With a bit of luck, some good football, some noisy support and a partridge in a pear tree, we might just get a point or three from the game. That's what my Christmas wishes are going on, anyway.

Call me a Scrooge, but I'm looking forward to Boxing Day more than Christmas Day this year!