Exeter City manager Matt Taylor said his side need to make improvements as the Grecians drew 2-2 with Yeovil Town at Huish Park.
City went ahead in the first half through Jayden Stockley’s header before the Glovers bounced back in the second period to level through Jordan Green before Alex Fisher but the home side in front.
Taylor’s side then battled back to level, again through Stockley, as he headed home from Dean Moxey’s cross to level the score. It was City who looked more likely going into the closing minutes, with Hiram Boateng shooting just over, but the match ended two apiece.
Following the result, Matt said: “We were 1-0 up and relatively comfortable and a mistake has got them back in the game. They got a bit of momentum going forward and we didn’t handle their forward balls well enough and then we were 2-1 down out of nowhere.
“We had to rejig the shape a little bit and put some more speed into our own game and then all of a sudden, we looked a threat again. We got the equaliser and looked the better team, looked the most likely team to nick one at the end.
“Some of the defending and some of the contact on the first ball throughout the game wasn’t good enough today. We are still learning, I say it even when we win, we are still a new team still trying to get better, certainly defensively than we were today.”
Matt believes that City had the capability to hold onto their lead, if not increase it, but after conceding two goals the Grecians’ boss says there are still improvements to be made.
“No disrespect to Yeovil, they put us under pressure in terms of balls forward, but we have to deal with them, it’s League Two football, you have to deal with that first ball, that first contact and then what happens off the back of that.
“We have to work so hard to threaten their goal and we scored some good goals again. It could have been a better story at the end, but we might have been lucky to get away with a point with the way we defended today.”
Despite the Grecians not taking all three points, Matt believes the experience is a learning curve for the squad as they look to go again when they play Swindon Town at St James Park next Saturday.
“Luke (Croll) will learn from it and Aaron Martin will learn from it. As a whole team and a unit, we have to improve that because I keep talking about our quality attacking players, but it’s worth nothing if you can’t keep a clean sheet or give them a chance of getting you in the lead and staying in the lead. We have worked so hard to get back in the game and then all of a sudden, we look like we are going to win it.
“You can’t always rely on coming back from a deficit. I want us to be a proper team who wins that game 1-0 or 2-0, which is a sign of a quality team. Maybe we’re not quite there yet, I’ve said we’re probably slightly over achieving which showed a little bit in terms of our play today.”