Western Morning News (Saturday)
Taylor confident his City side will find scoring touch soon
FOUR games and no goals. It is hardly the start to the season Exeter City fans will have dreamt of, but manager Matt Taylor is confident his side will hit the goal trail soon.
On the plus side, three of those four games has seen Exeter pick up clean sheets with three goalless draws for their efforts, with their sole defeat coming last week at Leyton Orient, where they were humbled 3-0.
Many fans have also questioned City’s transfer activity in the summer and believe the squad is weaker now than it has been in a long time. It is far from a crisis at St James Park, but there is no doubt that a victory today would help settle things down and quieten some of the more vocal critics in recent weeks.
Today, the Grecians will be looking to break their duck for the season when they welcome Bristol Rovers to St James Park for a League Two match that is as close to a derby as City will get this campaign.
“I am not overly concerned,” Taylor said. “If we have got everyone fit and available, and it was happening, then it becomes more of a concern but, when you put the games into context, the first game was as exciting a 0-0 as you can get with two teams trying to score and trying to create chances.
“The Wycombe game was a bit of a match-up and we cancelled each other out and we couldn’t quite penetrate in those moments, but I felt we were poor in the first half against Leyton Orient.
“We have had our moments, we have had chances- none more so than from a yard out (Nigel Atangana against Bradford) and the penalty at Orient (Matt Jay) but I don’t want to affect the lads’ confidence. But naturally, the longer it goes on, the more of an issue it will become.
“I feel that there are goals in this team, you only have to look back at last season – and even in pre-season when we were more fluid and we had the majority of the squad available, we were creating chances and scoring an awful lot of goals.
“It’s not a huge concern at the moment but, like everything in life, you have to address it.”
Rovers ended a club record run of eight straight defeats on Tuesday night with a 1-0 win over Oldham Athletic on Tuesday and will arrive in Devon cheered on by a considerable away following.
Their allocation for the game sold out several weeks ago which should guarantee a fantastic atmosphere at St James Park.
“It’s a local derby and they are still an hour away location-wise, but you can guarantee they will be well supported,” Taylor said. “They will have the whole of the away end and they will be in good voice – the Gasheads, as they are known – always are.
“But that always brings the best out in our home fans. If the atmosphere against Bradford is anything to go by, then we expect much the same this weekend.
“We expect it to be a lively game, so to speak, with an excellent playing surface and a full stadium. Hopefully it will be a good reflection on where both teams are.
City go into the game minus several players still with Sam Stubbs, Archie Collins, Nigel Atangana, Josh Coley
“Josh Coley is outside running, but Archie is in isolation because his brother and his Mum have tested positive,” Taylor said. “That’s just a knock-on effect of what we are going through.
“Archie is capable of being outside, not training, but jogging and starting his rehab, which he is doing on his own. And it is great to see Josh Coley outside with the ball at his feet, although he is not with the group as it stands.
“But it is two players that we feel are not too far away and if Archie is pain free, then we can progress him and the same with Josh Coley, so we don’t think they are far away, but it is when they start training with the group that we think they are close to selection.”