Exeter City FC

Exeter City captain Jake Taylor says he is expecting a tough test when Notts County visit St James Park in Sky Bet League Two.

The Magpies have endured a difficult beginning to the 2018/19 campaign having failed to pick up a win as yet this season. The club have recently parted company with former boss Kevin Nolan and brought in Harry Kewell, who built a good reputation for himself with Crawley Town.

Despite County coming into the match bottom of the table, Jake thinks that Saturday’s opponents will be as determined as ever to turn their form around under new stewardship.

The midfielder said: “Last year they were a really hard team to play against. I know they haven’t started this season great, but you can see the quality in their squad. With the new manager it’s going to be a tough test, but we go into the game confident because we have lots of good players here and we’ve had a good week training.

“It’s always the case when a new manager comes in that everyone seems to up their game five or 10 percent, but we’ll be ready for whatever they bring to us. We are going to do the best we can to play as well as we can and, hopefully, give the fans something to cheer about.”

The Grecians themselves are also looking to bounce back following successive league defeats to Mk Dons and Lincoln City. But having turned out a positive performance away at Yeovil Town in the Checkatrade Tropy with some of the fringe players impressing and pushing for a starting place on Saturday, Jake says the Grecians are keen to put in a much-improved display.

“Training has been good, of course we had the match in midweek, so far it’s been a good week and we are looking forward to the game at home on Saturday.

“You have to concentrate on the next game as quickly as possible. There’s always another game around the corner in this league so you can’t dwell on what’s happened too much. Of course, it was a disappointing result against Lincoln City but there are plenty more games this season to put it right and there’s no better time to do it at home this Saturday.”

This season has seen Matt Taylor deploy his new captain in the centre of midfield, a position Jake admits he is relishing as he continues to learn his role of captain at the club.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” said Jake. “We’ve had some really good results so far and it’s been a good start to the season. It’s nice for me to play in the middle and be amongst it and I feel that I’m forming some good partnerships with the people around me.

“There’s a long way to go with lots more work to do on the training ground, but I’m happy with how things have gone so far and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.

“Being captain has been good, it’s very new to me and I’m learning every day. It’s something that I’m really enjoying, everyone has been fantastic around me, the manager and all the players. It’s a good group of people here so let’s hope we can have a successful season.”