Western Morning News (Saturday)
Taylor knows City have a great chance to end 40-year Cup wait
NOT since the 1980/81 season have Exeter City progressed to round four of the FA Cup. That season, Brian Godfrey’s men went all the way to the quarter-finals in what remains the Grecians’ best ever performance in the world’s most famous knock-out Cup competition.
Today, though, they have arguably their best chance in 40 years to make it through once more when they play host to Sheffield Wednesday, a team that is low on confidence, fighting relegation from the Championship and beset by a Covid outbreak that sees them head to Devon without several players, their caretaker manager Neil Thompson and his two assistants.
It has all the ingredients to produce a Cup upset with the one big shame the fact that the game will again be played behind closed doors, instead of the usual rowdy bumper crowd that such a fixture would usually attract.
Back in 1981, it was Maidstone United that provided the opposition and the Grecians went to Kent and won 4-2. They then saw off Leicester City and Newcastle United in rounds four and five, both after drawing away from home, before winning the replays at a packed St James Park, before losing 2-0 at Tottenham in the last eight.
City boss Matt Taylor did not know it had been 40 years since City had reached round four and pledged to use that fact as part of his team talk ahead of today’s game.
“Those incentives are huge and we will never have a better chance of getting into the fourth round, no matter what the opposition is,” Taylor said.
“We have a home tie in the third round and we will never get a better chance and the players have to understand that and understand what a big game this is for the club. This is a big opportunity for us.
“When the draw was made, they had just had a new manager in Tony Pulis. Tony Pulis has since departed and they have picked up a few good results in the last few weeks, but generally, their form has been pretty poor in terms of their league position.
“Our form has been good and straight away you thought you had a chance. Given what has happened recently, you now think you have a
Exeter City score one of their four goals against Newcastle United during the FA Cup run of 1980/81, the last time the Grecians got beyond round three really good chance, but we have to play well and take care of whatever is in front of us on Saturday.
“We always say it, but it will be a shame the fans aren’t there and FA Cup games always gain more attention anyway, especially home games against bigger opposition, but that’s the way it is. We have to create some sort of atmosphere on Saturday and hopefully that will see us through.”
It has been a particularly hard game for Taylor to prepare for as he just does not know what sort of team Wednesday will field at the weekend. The Owls have not revealed how many first team players have been struck with the virus, saying only that caretaker manager Neil Thompson is in isolation and will not travel, along with his two assistants.
“Even before what we think is a Covid outbreak at Sheffield Wednesday, they might have made a lot of changes because they need to stay in that league,” he said. “Their form has picked up, but only recently.
“It is a difficult one to prepare for but then, it almost centralises your focus onto yourselves and I know that, if we play at our best, then we give ourselves a chance of winning the game no matter who we play against.
“We have to take care of what we can take care of and that is our own performance on Saturday and we will be looking to do that.”
Wednesday could have gone to the FA to request the match being postponed, although that would have been unlikely given the FA’s Covid ruling stipulates a club must have a minimum of 14 fit and available players to call upon.
Such clarity is something Taylor feels the EFL could learn from adding: “That’s the correspondence we have had from the FA this week. But we have not had that correspondence at any other time from the EFL.
“From the FA’s point of view, they have been perfectly clear that if you have 14 fit players, you have to play the fixture, which is great for them and great from our point of view because it is really clear what you need in terms of fulfilling a fixture.
“I don’t understand why the EFL can’t do that as well and then you don’t get those grey areas that we are speaking about, so full credit to the FA for doing that. That’s clarity for this weekend. But our bread and butter is the league and most of our games are in the league.
“It would be a lot simpler if the EFL did that as well.”
taylor added: “There needs to be a number similar to international players called up, a number we can work to, otherwise you do it for your own benefit.
“I am not saying that’s the situation this time around, but there needs to be clarity from the EFL or the PFA or the FA. Then you can call a game off when you have that number unavailable.
“As it is, it is still an unknown in terms of all these situations where training grounds are closed and we don’t know what we will come up agaisnt this weekend.