Gary Caldwell demands Exeter City reaction for Charlton trip
“We have good people and players who should be hurting and I want to see a big reaction at Charlton.”
Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell has demanded a reaction from his players when they travel to Charlton Athletic on Tuesday night. The Grecians were well off the pace and short of the standards required on Saturday as they slipped to a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to struggling Northampton Town.
City struggled at St James Park to create any real attacking chances of note and look fairly toothless in attack. Defensively they were cut open far too often, and only the form of Vil Sinisalo in goal kept the score down to two
Injuries and suspensions have hit City this season – Demetri Mitchell was unavailable at the weekend after his sending off in the Carabao Cup win over Luton Town. But Caldwell said that it wasn’t an excuse for the poor performance and that those who have come into the side need to up their game – and it will be a ‘difficult team’ to pick as no-one put their hand up to demand selection.
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“I would like to see a reaction,” Caldwell said, following the defeat on Saturday. “We have good people and players who should be hurting and I want to see a big reaction at Charlton.
“But it will be a difficult team to pick as every player apart from Vil, Zak Jules first half, KT had moments, but not a lot of players come out with credit, so everyone has to be ready, and we have to pick a team that was much more ready than today.
“It was an opportunity for other players to come in and take it and too often they have not been ready. We will need everyone to be successful in three competitions and when the opportunities are coming, the players are not taking them. It will be a team we have to get right and today we didn’t get the right team on the pitch to win the game so we have to look at ourselves.”
Defender Alex Hartridge added: “This will be a chance to put it right. We will have a reaction.”
The defeat to the Cobblers saw City drop out of the top six and down to eighth in the table. After a promising start, it is now three defeats in the last four in the league. The Addicks though are 15 th in the League One table, with 11 points from nine games, and just three wins this season. But they are unbeaten in four in the league.
Exeter will have Mitchell back from suspension and will almost certainly come back into the starting eleven. Jack Aitchison also returned from his hernia injury at the weekend for a late cameo off the bench and so could be involved from the off, while Caleb Watts is also likely to return. But it is unlikely that any of the rest of the band of players on the treatment table will be fit enough to feature.
City’s increasingly hectic fixture list – progress in the Carabao Cup means that they will have six Tuesday night games in seven weeks – could also see some rest and rotation, with the likes of Harry Kite, James Scott and Jack Fitzwater all potentially returning to the starting line-up.