Western Morning News

City are good enough to get promotion - Page

- DANIEL CLARK Daniel.Clark@reachplc.com

HAVING been part of the Charlton Athletic side that were promoted from League One, Lewis Page knows what it is like to play at a higher level.

And the left-back feels that the Exeter City side he now plies his trade for are good enough to get that elusive promotion this season.

The 24-year-old’s start to his Grecians career has twice been interrupte­d by injury, but now back fully fit, Page is ready to help inspire City into League One where ‘the team should be’.

City may only lie tenth in the League Two table, but are the top scorers and having had four successive away games postponed, have played the fewest games of any team and have four games in hand on some of their rivals.

Having seen Saturday’s the trip to Harrogate Town bite the dust to a combinatio­n of a frozen pitch and heavy snow, the game has been rearranged for tomorrow night with a 6.30pm kick-off, and Page said City will travel up north expecting three points to end what has been a recent dip in form, with just one win in seven.

“We are hoping the games in hand will be a positive and we can get some momentum going and we can climb the table, and we will go to Harrogate looking to get all three points,” Page said.

“If we are at 100%, which I believe we will be, there’s no reason why we can’t get all three points

“The aim of automatic promotion is still there and will be until late in the season. If we win our games in hand, we’ll go close to top spot, and it is there for us and we have to make it happen.

“With the team and players we have and the way we play sometimes, this is a team that should be in League One. I have experience­d promotion from League One and hope to do it from League Two.

“We have a young side, have lots of pace in wide areas, we work hard, and don’t have an area where we have a weakness, but we have just got to make the big moments count and that is the area that we have to get right, and I believe that we will.

“I got promoted with Charlton so know how it is done and you sometimes have to just grind out results, even when you are not at the best.”

Referring to Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers, when City having dominated the game and taken the lead, conceded a late equaliser, Page said: “The other night could have and should have been a win but that’s one we have to learn from. If we are in the same position again, we have to walk away with a 1-0 win and not a draw as that’s two points lost.

“It has been difficult as the pitches we have been playing on have been a bit boggy as well. But when we conceded late on, the game could have been done, and we have to learn from that and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The 24-year-old joined City in the summer after an injury hit spell at the Valley, and his Grecians debut in September was his first appearance in nearly two years, after two hamstring injuries and then a groin injury just before football resumed after the coronaviru­s-enforced break.

He suffered another hamstring injury in the 3-1 win over Scunthorpe United in October, and then a quad injury on his return against Gillingham a month later than kept him out for another five weeks.

But he has started the last two games, and Page said that after the frustratio­n of his injuries, he is fully fit and raring to go when called upon.

He said “I started with a good run of games, and then had a little hamstring injury, nothing major, but the game I came back had a little tear in my quad, so that was a bit frustratin­g, but I feel positive and good in myself and body now and ready to finish the season.

“The last two games manager has eased me back, so hope I can stay fit to the end of the season.”

From tomorrow night’s trip to Harrogate, City play Tuesday/Saturday until the visit of Cheltenham Town on March 13, after which is the next midweek they have free, and Page said that with his injury history, he isn’t expecting to play every one of those 16 games.

“The manager will have to decide, but if I am available, I want to play,” Page added. “But you have to be sensible at times and everyone will have to rotate at some points and be fresh, as you have to be at 100 per cent every single game to get out of this league.

“But I feel ready and feel good, and with us, the games aren’t the issue. We enjoy playing the games and enjoy them more than training. That’s where you showcase yourself and where it matters and the more games, the better for us.

“I miss playing and it was hard to watch when I was injured but it has made me mentally stronger. I feel a lot more positive about me and my body now and I do feel better. The only way is forward for me now and don’t want to keep looking back.”

And Page is also looking forward to finally playing in front of the Grecian faithful, with his only action in front of fans having been the 45 minutes he played at Tiverton Town while on trial.

“It was a bit annoying to be injured for the games we had fans in, but it wasn’t meant to be. But we hope to get them back in before the end of the season but we’ll have to play it by ear.”

 ?? Phil Mingo/PPAUK ?? Lewis Page is ready to help inspire City into League One where ‘the team should be’.
Phil Mingo/PPAUK Lewis Page is ready to help inspire City into League One where ‘the team should be’.

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