Exeter City manager Matt Taylor says his players are relishing the challenge of taking on Cheltenham Town this Saturday’s in the hope of putting last weekend’s dismal 4-1 defeat to Mansfield Town firmly behind them.
"It was a poor performance and a disappointing result,” said Matt. “We never got going in the game. We started poorly and it spiraled out of control to a certain extent.
“However, the lads are hungry, hungry to get back on the pitch and show that they are better players than they showed last weekend.
“I was asked if the lads needed picking up on Monday morning and they certainly didn’t.
"They came in with the right attitude, which is what you want as a manager and what you want from a coaching group. The players want to put it right. We know we were not good enough last weekend and we were bitterly disappointed with that result.
“However, hopefully that was a blip on the back of two good performances previously to that and generally our away form has been good. I am looking forward to the game this weekend. You are never too sure what you are going to get from opposition but we have got to give it everything we’ve got.”
Cheltenham Town will not be easy though. They have only lost once at the Johnny Rocks Stadium since October 27 – winning 12 out of their 19 games there in all competitions since then.
“They are good team,” said Matt. “A strong team at home, on a good run, and they have scored a lot of goals against good opposition this season. We know it is a going to be tough but it is certainly one we are looking forward to.
“They are good top end of the pitch. They have got a solid structure. It will be interesting because they might have a couple of injuries and obviously Jordan Tillson can’t play because he is our player on loan there, so we will have to see what they do with their personnel but they have found a system and a structure that works for them, certainly at home, and full credit to their manager because I know his remit when he went in was to keep them in the league and he has more than done that.
“Hopefully, it will be an exciting game because they have scored some goals at home recently and we are not in bad form away from home. We have got to be sensible in the way we set the team up.
“We have got to give them some structure and some simplicity in the way we start the game. We have got to be strong physically and stand up to anything Cheltenham throw at us. It is a good pitch, it will be good atmosphere. Hopefully we can take a few fans because we usually do at Cheltenham because it is one of our more local ones. I know it is still two to two-and-half hours away, but it is one of our more local ones.”
Luke Croll has returned to training but remains a doubt for this weekend, while Jonathan Forte and Aaron Martin could also miss out through injury.