Manager Matt Taylor confirmed that Exeter City will still be light on numbers going into Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup tie against Blackpool.
The Grecians have been missing a number first-team players from their side in the past few weeks, due to injury and illness. It has seen the side’s League Two form dip with losses to Forest Green Rovers and Tranmere Rovers and Matt Taylor is not expecting too many of them to return for this weekend.
“We will still have seven or eight out for this weekend and, obviously, Dean Moxey suspended,” he said. “The numbers are what they are at the moment. I have got no problem or no excuses from that.
“We are looking forward to this weekend’s game. We want to get the last two games out of our system as best we possibly can and put on a performance on our home ground – against a good League One team – in the FA Cup, which everyone is excited about.”
Asked what he could learn from the last two defeats, Matt added: “Well, we have got to be better than what we showed. We have got to give ourselves a chance to get a foothold and a bit of control in the game.
“The goals we feel, certainly at Tranmere last weekend, didn’t give us an opportunity to do that. They were poor goals from our point of view and we have got to withstand pressure at certain times and then affect the game in a positive manner.
“Personnel-wise we were not too bad last weekend, but we just didn’t quite get control of the game enough. The stages that we did, we looked like a good team but that becomes irrelevant on the back of conceding poor goals, being 2-0 down and then down to 10 men for the last 20 to 25 minutes.
“We know we have got to be better and the group is strong enough to deal with the issues that we have got at the moment.”
City may go into the game as underdogs against a team from a higher league, but Matt added that the advantage of being drawn at home is a good one for them.
“You always want to play your cup games at home,” he said. “It is a huge advantage and it will be a long way for Blackpool to come and we have got to make the atmosphere as proper as we can, going into that game.
“The away end will be open, so hopefully they will bring few fans down. You do hope for a relatively easier draw than League One opposition who are seventh or eighth in the league. However, it is what it is. We can’t wait for this weekend and we are looking forward to it.”
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