“WE KNOW ABOUT THEIR STRENGTHS": MATT TAYLOR ON EXETER'S TRIP TO WALSALL

Featured Image Credit: Devon Live

Exeter City continue their League two campaign this weekend with a trip to the Bescot Stadium to take on Darrell Clarke’s unbeaten Walsall.

The last time these two sides met it was the final game with fans in attendance, with Walsall riding out 3-1 winners, something that City manager Matt Taylor won’t what a repeat of on Saturday. 

“It was our last game before the league suspension and the lockdown and for half a game we were poor, on the back foot and couldn’t get out of our own half. 

“I want us to go to Walsall and really express ourselves, whether that’s in or out of possession we’ve got to put a marker down and say we’re there to really fight and scrap,” said Taylor.

Following on from the Grecians draw with Southend last weekend; Taylor will be hoping his side can dominate the game the same way they did at Roots Hall but improve in the final third. 

“I just want us to improve in certain areas than where we were last weekend. We got into some fantastic positions on that football pitch at Southend but our passing, our final ball, and execution was poor.

“Hopefully that was an off day so we can put that behind us and improve this weekend,” said the Grecians gaffer.

Walsall currently sit in the play-off places with no defeats so far and frontman Elijah Adebayo has picked up where he left off last season, finding the back of net three times already this term. 

“He’s (Adebayo) been really impressive and he looks in a good vein of form for a centre-forward, he’s using his physicality better than he has in the past”.

Although it could be a challenge to stop the 22-year-old, Taylor admits that it’s about not letting the ball even reach Adebayo when Walsall come forward.

“It’s also stopping it at source, they’ve got some good wide players who can deliver the ball and that’s not their only route to goal, they have other ways of scoring apart from crosses.

“We know about their strengths but we’ve got to back our ability to nullify it and to stand up to those moments but also put pressure on the opposition,” said Taylor. 

As for the Grecians, Taylor has been boosted by the return of Nicky Law, who through a number of reasons, has struggled for minutes on the pitch this season.

“It’s been a frustrating start to the season for all involved in relation to Nicky through no fault of his own, he’s just not played the game time you’d expect from arguably your best player over the last two seasons but I think it’s time we get Nicky on the pitch and time that we see the best of him.

“You want Nicky Law on that pitch as much as you possibly can, so I’m hoping we get him on the pitch more often than not in the next few weeks,” said Taylor

Alongside the returning Law, with just a few hours left of the EFL window, it looks as though the Grecians have managed to keep hold of their player of the season last year in Randell Williams, after it looked he was bound for League One.