Danny happy to be back in the groove
City captain Danny Coles enjoyed the opportunity to take the field once again, as the Grecians drew 0-0 with Queens Park Rangers in the first of Exeter’s pre-season friendlies.
The cancelled game against Dorchester set back City’s plans a little, but it still offered the chance to stretch the legs for 24 City players in total. While the QPR team looked better on paper, a mature performance from a largely inexperienced side allowed City to soak up any pressure without too many worries.
“It was good just to get back out on the pitch and to have 45 minutes to get the feel of things and get your body used to playing the game again,” the Grecians’ captain said after the game. “It was a good workout.
“Obviously on the ball QPR are a technically fantastic team. We knew that they would have a lot of the ball and we just had to be patient, and our shape in both the halves was decent. If anything, in the second half we probably showed them a little bit too much respect.”
Level-headed as ever, Danny didn’t want to put any undue weight on the result of a pre-season match in which no points or prizes were at stake. Instead he viewed the biggest positive to be the chance for the team to get minutes under the belt and to get through the game without any knocks or niggles.
“Results don’t matter [in pre-season],” continued Coles. “I’ve seen teams – and probably been involved in them – when you lose nearly every single game, but then you go into the season and win the first five or six games.
“I won’t read anything into it at the minute – at this stage of the pre-season, it’s all about players getting through unscathed, getting a bit of fitness, and making sure they’re getting ready for August 3rd.”
And with pre-season training almost at the end of the second week, Danny feels that the side will reap the rewards of the hard work that they have been putting in at the Cat & Fiddle.
“As you can imagine, it’s hard. But that’s part and parcel of pre-season – I’ve had 16 or 17 pre-seasons now and not one has been easy, so you can’t expect them to be.
“But that’s what you look forward to through the summer. It’s a good feeling when at the end of the day you’re absolutely knackered, but you know you got something out of it.”