Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale has a few injury concerns at the centre of defence ahead of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup match against West Bromwich Albion.
aptain Jordan Moore-Taylor, who missed Monday’s defeat to Newport County through injury, remains a doubt for the clash with the Baggies while Troy Brown and Luke Croll are not expected to return from their long-standing injuries in time for the match.
“We have got one or two players out injured, which makes life a little bit difficult,” he said. “So, for whatever West Brom do, we have got one or two of our own issues with Jordan Moore-Taylor still doubtful.
“And with Tory Brown and Luke Croll still being out injured that is a fair few centre-backs out.
“Then there is Jayden Stockley, we will have to wait and see how he is. He broke his nose on Monday and we will have to make a call on Saturday on whether it is worth the risk playing him or whether he can get through it or not. So, we will see. Other than that we will get stuck in and put the best team on the pitch that we can.”
West Brom go into the match without a win in 20 matches and second from bottom in the Premier League table. However, Tis says a lot of that will be insignificant come Saturday when you consider that Alan Pardew’s team play three divisions above City.
“Whatever they have done over the past few games is, probably, irrelevant,” said Tis. “They are a Premier League side with professional people who want to do their best. So I think we are looking forward to it and I think we realise that it is going to be a very tough game.
“We start the game trying to win it, but we want to do ourselves justice, play really well and give our supporters something to cheer about. We are expecting a really tough opponent that has got a lot more experience and international caps and everything else that goes with being a Premier League team.”
City don’t have to look too far back in their recent past though to find a game where they got a positive result against a Premier League side. That came against Liverpool in January 2016 when they recorded a 2-2 draw at St James Park. Many of the players who played that day are still in the City dressing room. So, will that give City an extra advantage going into this weekend’s game?
“It proves that you can get a good result but I don’t know what team Alan Pardew will select and I don’t know, exactly, yet what team we will select,” said Tis. “I do know the conditions will be similar. It was a muddy day that day in January, two years ago, and it will be a muddy day this Saturday.
“It will be, I think, a very atmospheric game. We will have full-house and we will want to do really well. I don’t think we can predict too much other than how we decide to apply ourselves on the day. What West Brom do will be very much up to them.”