Skipper raring to make amends next time out
Following a 2-0 defeat to Bristol Rovers, Exeter City captain Danny Coles was immediately looking ahead to the chance to get back out on the field at Fleetwood at the weekend and reigniting the promotion charge.
It was the only League 2 fixture being played on Wednesday evening, meaning that there was the opportunity to claw back amongst the automatic promotion spots in the league for the meantime at least – and Danny admitted his frustration that the team couldn’t take advantage.
“It’s a chance missed,” said Danny. “We’ve just got to pick ourselves up and go again now. We’ve got to have a quick turnaround to go up to Fleetwood on Saturday, which is going to be a hard game.
“It’s frustrating, because we know we missed an opportunity. But we’ve had setbacks this season and we’ve rebounded well, so hopefully we can do that on Saturday.”
City looked reinvigorated after the interval, with a change of tack clearly offering new threats to the Rovers rearguard – but ultimately the Grecians couldn’t find a route to goal and were punished when Lee Brown’s corking effort effectively sealed the tie in the final ten minutes.
Danny continued: “As soon as we came out for the start of second half with the changes to put Jake and Jimmy on, I thought those two lads had a bit of spark about them – and that’s what we wanted at that time of the game. It’s a shame we didn’t get a goal early doors in the second half.
“It was a shame to concede the second goal against the run of play, when they were parked up in their own half. But they’re a disciplined team, and they knew what they wanted us to do, and we didn’t do what we usually do well enough.”
And after a tough fixture, City have a whistle-stop in Exeter before they head back on the road almost immediately for a first ever trip to visit Fleetwood Town – so Coles is set on preparing correctly and responding in a positive manner.
“We’ve got a couple of days to get ourselves ready – it was a hard game out there tonight and it took a lot out of the boys. So we’ve got to make sure we prepare right and hopefully start another run from Saturday, and kick on for the last ten games of the season.”