Defender stresses importance of keeping chins up
City centre-half and stand-in skipper Pat Baldwin was in a gallant mood following defeat to Cheltenham Town, and underlined the importance of keeping the belief in the coming weeks.
The Grecians fell to a 1-0 defeat at Whaddon Road, with former Exeter man Jamie Cureton the name on the scoresheet by netting a goal that Baldwin felt was preventable. But Pat feels that the side need to keep faith in what they’re doing and that the results will follow.
“No-one likes to lose – and it was a really soft goal as well,” said Baldwin. “As a back-four unit we were disappointed to concede like that. As we discussed after the game, it’s not as if it was a surprise.
“So that was frustrating, but we also had a lot of chances and we weren’t able to put one of them away – so that’s also frustrating. We have to just keep on believing – the second-half performance was really good, and if we play more like that then we’re going to win more than we’re going to lose.”
Chances came and went for Exeter and it seemed as though the penetration would never quite come as Scott Brown stayed big in the Cheltenham net.
But on the balance of the second period, where Exeter flooded towards the Cheltenham box, the centre-half feels there is cause to be positive going into the next fixture as the Grecians travel to Torquay on Sunday.
“With Gowser and Sam Parkin hitting the post, it did seem like it was going to be one of those days,” he continued. “But you have to keep digging through – that’s the only option you’ve got. Keeping that belief is so important, and that’s what we’ll be doing in the dressing room.
“The players on the pitch are the ones that have to have the belief and the confidence so we’ll be able to take that away from the second half. We need to concentrate on the positives from this match and carry it onto the next game.
“The good thing about this period is that there’s another game straight away, and it’s a big one at Torquay. It’ll be a great game – we’re looking to start another run of results in the coming weeks and we’re going to look forward to it. It’s good that it’s coming straight away.”