Grecians manager looks ahead to Orient trip
EXETER CITY manager Paul Tisdale targeted a return to winning ways in the league ahead of Saturday's trip to meet Leyton Orient.City were convincing winners against the O's the last time the sides met, but Paul was insistent that Ian Hendon's side remain one of the most dangerous in the division.
"They are in the mix, and they are a team that are perfectly capable of being promoted," Paul said. "They're in that bracket; they play on a good football pitch, and have the advantage of one or two players that are of a higher level. We'll have to keep our enthusiasm up and keep our energy levels high, but I trust the players to be in the right frame of mind for this game.
"We've talked about our league form, but we can't keep talking about it forever. We have put in some good performances of late, but we need to put those together with results. I cannot grumble with the players at all in the last six or seven weeks, other than for the fact that we haven't picked up the points.
"We went from having a full squad at Plymouth away, to having most of the squad collapse, but they are all starting to come back now. We have Jamie McAllister, who came through ninety minutes of the game on Tuesday; Tom McCready played the major part of the game; Christian Ribeiro played against Liverpool before being rested on Tuesday; Will Hoskins got back onto the field on Tuesday and did extremely well, while Danny Butterfield is ready to go as well. Jamie Reid was rested, while Christy Pym, Ryan Harley and David Wheeler are the three first-team players who are missing now. Generally, they are all fit, and Ollie Watkins is a fraction away from full fitness also. Other than bumps and bruises, we should be able to use the full squad this weekend."
"We've added to the squad by bringing in Jayden Stockley, and we haven't always had the opportunity to do that in January. Jayden was the first one, and there may be one or two others. He's a forward player who brings something different to the squad; he has a different type of skillset to what we already had, and he provides a balance to the others. We're in a month where we could easily lose a couple of our forward players also; there are teams who are looking at the likes of Tom Nichols and David Wheeler. If I can add to the squad and build some strength, we'll have players in reserve if we do get the nice problem of teams offering us some money for our players.
"We're back on the front foot now, and we're moving forward. The club has managed the financial decline extremely well over a three or four-year period, and we don't have to take any offers. We can take the right offer if it comes up, but if it doesn't then we're happy to keep the players. Everyone's a winner. It bodes very well for the next eighteen months; it gives me a very good chance, as I'm not always playing catch-up. We are that type of club - you shouldn't begrudge David or Tom or any other players looking to get to a higher level. By the end of the season, they will be out of contract, and we won't have an opportunity to make anything from them."