Exeter City aim to bounce back from ‘wake-up call’ defeat

The group as a whole has learned a lot this week, and we all recognise that if we want to win the game on Saturday, we must play at our absolute best.

Gary Caldwell’s main takeaway from Exeter City’s disheartening 2-1 loss to Leyton Orient last week was rather simple: we didn’t work

hard enough and ended up getting exactly what we deserved.

The City manager offered no excuses for his team’s lacklustre performance, which saw them lose their hold on first place in League

One after Ruel Sotiriou’s stoppage-time goal for the O’s. This is despite the fact that eight players were out due to illness or international duty.

Caldwell has not watched a re-run of the match, with the stats from Exeter’s sports science team telling him all he needed to know

about the game in terms of the physical output, and he is demanding a much-improved performance when his team return to St James

Park to face Cheltenham Town today, a team bottom of the league with one point and yet to score in the league so far this season.

“You have to bounce back regardless of who you are playing against,” Caldwell said when asked if this was the perfect opponent to play

after last week’s display. “We know the threats that they pose and they beat us last season, so there is no complacency here.

“Last week was a big wake-up call in that you have to go out and run, you have to go out and compete to win football matches at this

level. We didn’t do that and we got what we deserved.

“There has been a big learning experience this week from the whole group that we know we have to be 100 per-cent on Saturday if we

want to win the game.

“We have a phrase ‘Big Team mentality’ that we have started using and what that entails. We didn’t have that on Saturday. We didn’t

run, we didn’t compete and if you don’t do that, then you are never going to win a football match.

“Since it was by far our lowest physical effort of the year, we spoke about the fundamentals and what successful football teams do to

prevail in games. When we win, we don’t concentrate on it; instead, we concentrate on the next game. Likewise, when we lose, we

concentrate on the next game and the challenge it presents.

“Big teams bounce back from failures. We are very ready and prepared, and I hope to see people with a wounded animal mentality

who want to come out fighting and show their true selves because Saturday wasn’t what we have been this season, and we have to get

back to doing the basics really well and trying to win a football match. They quickly respond to setbacks and bounce back.

Against Orient, City fielded Jake Richards in central midfield, an Academy graduate that has just turned 16, who was making his full

debut for his hometown club. Up front was Sonny Cox, another Academy graduate who, at 18, was making his 25th appearance for the

first team, but only his seventh start.

It was a tough afternoon for both, Cox especially, who is having to lead the Exeter frontline in the midst of injuries to fellow frontmen

Admiral Muskwe and James Scott. But Caldwell is backing him to succeed with Cox likely to lead the line again today – although both

Caleb Watts and Yanic Wildschut, although both are more wide men, were signed in time to feature.

Both have signed contracts with the club that expire in January 2024. Since leaving Oxford United, Wildschut, who worked under

Caldwell and spent £1 million at Wigan, has been a free agent, while Watts left Southampton at the conclusion of the previous campaign.

According to Caldwell, “We have enormous faith and belief that Sonny Cox will be a top player for both this football club and have a

top career.” The coaching staff here has a lot of faith in him and believes he can go out on Saturday and score goals, lead the line and

perform to the level we know he is capable of. He is a bit self-critical because he wants to do better.