On-loan stopper is playing key role in City’s promotion push
ON-LOAN goalkeeper Cameron Dawson has been one of the standout players at St James Park this season – and Exeter City would love to keep him.
The Sheffield Wednesday stopper has been imperious in goal for the Grecians and is a key reason why promotion to League One is looking more and more likely.
City have kept 16 clean sheets in 40 league games, including four in the last five, and are conceding, on average, less than a goal a game. Dawson was nominated for League Two player of the month for March, and while he didn’t win the award, April has begun with two clean sheets, including in the 1-0 win at Carlisle United on Saturday.
The 26-year-old is only on loan with City from the Owls, and ultimately they will determine his future. He is contracted at Hillsborough until June 2024, and while Matt Taylor would love to keep him in Devon next season, any decision of that nature is likely to be determined by Wednesday and whether Dawson wants to return for a second season (or beyond).
“Cam has been fantastic since day one,” manager Taylor said. “But he is contracted to Sheffield Wednesday who are a fantastic club. They have done well and they have gotten close to getting out of League One, so it is not for us to decide what happens.
“All we can do is keep concentrating on the remaining games for Exeter City. He enjoys the environment, we have shown him much how he is valued, and then we will have conversations about the future, but we won’t be in control of them.
“We are an admirer of his game and personality, but there will be a whole host of clubs who would want to get him on loan or permanently. Sheffield Wednesday, if they are still in League One, probably wouldn’t loan him again to a club at that level, so best case would be if they go up and we get promoted, but there are all sorts of factors that play a part.”
The goalkeeper is clearly enjoying his time with City, as his full-time celebrations in the recent wins have shown, but when last asked about his future, said that his focus was solely on getting promoted.
Exeter’s win against the Cumbrians, achieved with Padraig Amond’s 90th minute goal, kept them second in the League Two table, five points ahead of Mansfield Town in fourth, with only six games to go.
“I am loving life down here,” Dawson had previously said. “Of course it helps when the team is doing well and winning breeds confidence and puts smiles on people’s faces, but it has been a great place to be, particularly at this stage of the season.
“There has been no discussion and I have not spoken to anyone,” he said. “I signed on loan here for the season and that is the job I am here to do. I signed for Exeter City and I am fully here this season for the promotion push, and I will give it my all and hopefully it will be a successful season.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the fans and they have taken me in wonderfully and I love playing my football in front of them. I am not a social media man but I do appreciate all of it and it’s been fantastic so far.”