Baldwin wants City to keep the promotion charge going
Following Exeter’s 2-0 win at Port Vale, City defender Pat Baldwin highlighted the importance of keeping the momentum going at St James Park on Saturday when Northampton are the visitors.
Jamie Cureton and Danny Coles put the Valiants to the sword, but the performance was built on a resolute rearguard which kept another clean sheet. With the Cobblers providing the next test for the Grecians, the centre-half is already looking forward to taking on another promotion-hopeful and trying to put a spanner in their works whilst increasing City’s own credentials.
“We don’t want to lose any game we’re playing, but we’re heading into what people call the ‘business end’ of the season,” explained Pat.
“So every game is vital now and it’s very tight at the top and we want to keep this momentum going so hopefully Saturday against Northampton we can get another three points.”
The result – and the manner in which it came – was the perfect antidote following the disappointment at the weekend by losing out to Burton Albion. City had come uncharacteristically unstuck at the Pirelli Stadium, and the victory at Vale Park was the ideal way of bouncing straight back.
He continued: “It was a fantastic result, especially after Saturday. We wanted a nice response to Saturday, and we showed it and did really well.
“It seemed that everything that could go wrong in the first 20 minutes did [against Burton]. It was very unlike us with our recent form, as a team and as a collective back-four. We were very disappointed after that game, and we had a chat yesterday in training with the manager and I think we showed the best possible response.”
The victory against Port Vale was always going to require a solid and confident display, so on a personal level Baldwin was happy to have stifled the Vale attack. But he admitted he’s already looking towards the next fixture and keeping building up the promotion hopes.
“They’re up at the top of the league for a reason – they’ve done very well. Tom Pope is the top scorer in the league, and they’re no mugs at all.
“So to keep a clean sheet against a team that have been very good this year and scored a lot of goals is satisfying, but we’ve got to stay consistent and hopefully go into the next game and keep another one.”