Western Morning News (Saturday)
Taylor left frustrated by City’s pre-season
THIS time last week, Exeter City manager Matt Taylor was delighted with how the Grecians pre-season campaign had gone.
But seven days later, and with injuries to three key players, plus a departure of a fourth, and City are facing several hurdles to overcome before facing Bradford City in their League Two opener today.
First skipper Matt Jay picked up a minor ankle injury in training last Thursday, although Taylor fully expects him to be fit to lead the side out at St James Park.
But then Alex Hartridge suffered an injury in training on Friday that is almost certain to see him miss the start of the season, before Archie Collins picked up a knee injury in the weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Shrewsbury Town.
And with Tuesday night seeing the double whammy of winger Joel Randall departing to Peterborough United - albeit for a substantial fee of more than £1m plus add-ons - and a 1-0 loss to Truro City in the final pre-season outing, the momentum seems to have dropped out of the Grecians’ preparations.
Visitors Bradford City ended the 2020/21 campaign with just one point from their last seven games as they ended a disappointing 15th , but the Bantams appointed former Plymouth Argyle boss Derek Adams in the summer, fresh from achieving promotion with Morecambe, and are among the bookies favourites to go up.
It’s a tough start for City, with Leyton Orient and Bristol Rovers, both also among the forecasted top seven in the first four games, as with injuries having hit the Grecians, Taylor is not full of confidence for where his side is at for the season opener.
Asked if he was happy with how pre-season had gone, Taylor said: “If you asked me last Thursday I was delighted with where we were, but then the injuries to MJ and Alex and Archie and it changes it, and all of a sudden you are
two “We were balanced and in a rhythm but hope to go into this weekend strong enough to be competitive first and foremost but also this team will build and build again. I had been happy in pre-season but it is an interesting few days for a manager when the obstacles come, but when players move on or there are injuries, it is an opportunity for more players.
“I hope they are physically able to take it as we know how physical the first game of the season will be, regardless of the opposition, so we have fingers crossed and don’t want to break anyone in the meantime.”
While Jay is set to be fit for Saturday, with Taylor saying that had last weekend been a vital league game, he would have played, Collins and Hartridge won’t be available, meaning Timothee Dieng and Jonathan Grounds, both of whom signed late and have had a shortened pre-season, will be pressed into action despite not being 100 per cent match fit.
“We expect Alex and Archie to be out so we have to fill those positions and be sensible with the selection and the team set-up,” Taylor said, adding: “So we cannot expect too much from Saturday but we do expect them to compete.”
Cameron Dawson, George Ray, Callum Rowe, Jevani Brown, Josh Coley and Sam Nombe have also all joined in the summer, while Pierce Sweeney returned after a one day at Swindon Town, but with Jake Taylor, Randell Williams, Joel Randall and Ryan Bowman among the departures, it will be a much-changed City side, with Taylor still hoping to make a few more additions.
One that won’t be coming to St James Park is midfielder Chris Clements. The 31-year-old former Cheltenham Town man, who had been training with the Robins in pre-season, as well as a spell with Swindon Town, started the 1-0 friendly loss to Truro City on Tuesday night,
Clements had a tidy, if unspectacular game, in the defensive midfield role, playing an hour, with Taylor admitting that it is a position that they are targeting reinforcements in, but he will not be following up his interest in the player.
“We know what happened to Archie at the weekend so we are looking to fill that void,” he said. “Time will tell how long Archie is out for but looking for personnel.
And with Randall leaving for Peterborough for around £1.2m plus add-ons and a sell-on clause, reinforcements in attacking areas are earmarked, with Taylor adding: “We tweaked the formation as we expected Joel to go, and on the back of Randell Williams going as well and losing both your wingers, it was a sensible thing to do to play wingbacks.
“But we will be looking for more attacking players, but it is not the main priority on the back of Archie’s injury but we are still looking for two/three players to improve the squad.”
Bradford arrive in Devon and will be cheered on by a considerable crowd with over 700 tickets sold before they wet on general sale.
“We’ve had a very good pre-season and now we head to Exeter for that first game,” Adams said. “We are looking forward to it.”