Exeter City FC

Exeter City manager Matt Taylor is calling for his players to feed off the energy from the home crowd following a good run of form at St James Park which has seen the Grecians record back-to-back home wins.

More than 5,000 people came through the gates for the team’s last home match against MK Dons and roared on by a boisterous crowd City recorded a valuable 3-1 victory against a promotion rival. 

This weekend, third-placed Bury visit the park in what is another big match and Matt is calling for more of the same from the crowd and his players. 

“We fed off each other’s energy and we have got to aim to do that every single home game,” said Matt. “Games never pan out quite the same or like you want them to, but the fans keep getting behind us and we have got to react to that and give them something to cheer about as well. 

“We want to start fast and we want to start on the front foot. We will be aiming to do that this weekend. They (the fans) have got to stick with us no matter what because we will be putting in another performance that gives everything we possibly can. 

“It was increased numbers for the MK Dons game and it felt a bit like a derby atmosphere. I am not too sure how many fans Bury will bring this weekend but, hopefully, they will bring a few and hopefully it will be a good atmosphere.”

Bury, in good form, are likely to be backed in good numbers. They have produced some entertaining football this season by scoring more goals than any other team in League Two and eclipsed only by Luton Town and Manchester City in the whole of the top four divisions of English football. 

However, City have a recent good defensive record – conceding just three goals in 2019. It is that solid base that is going to have to be spot on for the Grecians again on Saturday against what is a formidable visiting attack. 

“It is going to be important,” said Matt. “They are free-flowing and they have scored a lot of goals. They are a good team and they dominated the game when we played up at Bury. 

“We were only in the game for a 20 to 30-minute period in the second half, so it is going to be a really tough test but one we have got to look forward to and one we have got to enjoy.

"We have got nothing to lose in terms of welcoming another promotion candidate to the park. We have got to take the game to them and attack the game and no matter what the score come five o’clock on Saturday we have got to say ‘no regrets’ about our performance.”

In terms of injuries and absentees, City should welcome back Dean Moxey and Lee Holmes into the squad for Saturday and have a couple of long-term injured players on the verge of a return. 

“There are a couple of fitness worries,” said Matt. “There are a couple of injured players on the back of training this week so we have got to monitor them the next couple of days but apart from that there are reasons to be cheerful on the injury front. Hiram (Boateng) is closer to first-team training. He is still not in full training but he is closer to it and Troy Brown has been in and out to a certain extent.”