Western Morning News (Saturday)
‘I want to have a chance of winning the league’ - Taylor
EXETER City manager Matt Taylor is finding it hard to switch off from work mode as the celebrations at St James Park continue following the club’s promotion in midweek.
The Grecians overcame Barrow on Tuesday night, winning 2-1, to secure their place in League One for next season and ending a ten-year stay on League Two. At the same time, already promoted league leaders Forest Green Rovers were being beaten 2-1 at Swindon Town, a defeat that meant the Grecians drew level on point at the top of the table following their win.
Today, City head to Northampton Town, themselves chasing automatic promotion and sitting fourth in the table, a point ahead of fourth-placed Port Vale, who travel to St James Park next weekend on the final day of the season.
Forest Green host mid-table Harrogate Town, today before finishing at Mansfield Town, who are currently fifth and also a point adrift of Northampton. It is a two-horse race for the title with the Grecians and Forest Green already assured of the top two places but until the title is won, Taylor says he cannot rest easy.
“I was speaking to Wayno (assistant Wayne Carlisle) before and it is so strange for us because we have been working so hard for this moment,” Taylor said ahead of today’s game. “I suppose the first feeling is relief that we’ve achieved it, rightly or wrongly. It is relief that we have achieved something that we set out to do so long ago, relief that we have achieved it with two games to spare and then the other feelings start coming into it.
“I am so proud of the players, first and foremost, and the club – and to be a part of it. But I have still not had those moments where I can relax and I might not get that until the end of the season.
“Trust me, I will be celebrating and I will be as happy as anyone! I don’t show it enough and I need to let myself go more but, until these last two games have gone, my professional feeling is that I have to be right on the mettle because I don’t want to get turned over this weekend and I want to perform well in the last two games.
“I want to have a chance of winning the league. For any manager, any player, any club, the opportunity to win the league doesn’t come around too often and I don’t want to miss that opportunity.
“But, come 5pm against Port Vale, of we are doing a couple laps of honour, I will be able to show my appreciation to the fans as much as much as they’ve shown their appreciation for me and that is something I am looking forward to.”
To use the phrase ‘don’t want to get turned over this weekend’ is certainly an interesting one and it is hard to imagine that a proud professional like Taylor is still not scarred by a 4-0 thrashing by Northampton in the League Two play-off final of 2019.
Taylor openly talks about how good that City squad was and had it not been for the outbreak of Covid, he is convinced that Exeter would have gone up automatically that season. Instead, it was Swindon, Plymouth and Crewe Alexandra that went up on the pointsper-game scenario and City, who had been in the top three for so much of the campaign, ended in the play-offs which were then played in June, where they were well and truly ‘turned over’ by the Cobblers at Wembley.
Revenge is probably too strong a term as the Grecians head to Northampton today. Redemption is perhaps a more apt term, but one player that looks like he will miss out is the inspirational leader of the backline, Sam Stubbs.
“We have to assess what we do with Sam,” Taylor said. “He had his knee drained on Tuesday morning and we expect and feel that the pitches are getting so hard at the moment that the knee is reacting in a slightly different manner and there has been a bit of swelling since Tuesday.
“It is a race against time for him to be fit. We don’t want to drain that knee again, not now that there is nothing specific to fight for in terms of being on the pitch. We want him to be available, but we have to let that knee settle down naturally now.
“The knee won’t be drained again and if it settles down, then he will be in contention to play. If not, then we will have to re-jig that backline and with Alex Hartridge unavailable, there is a bit of pressure there.
“Sam Nombe is available and Oz (Zanzala) is available as well after missing Tuesday night. It’s incredible, we haven’t really focused on it because results have meant we haven’t had to, but we’ve not been at full strength for a long period of time now.
“You look at the whole season on general and Sam Stubbs wasn’t available for the first half of the season, Sam Nombe has barely played a part in the second half of the season and we have had other injuries in and around that. It is a huge blow to lose players of that ilk for such a long period of time, but the rest of the group have come together and shown exactly what they can do.
“Hopefully, if we can keep those two players fit next season, the squad will naturally will be stronger for a little bit longer.”