Youngster hoping to help City back to League 1
Exeter City loanee Lawson D’Ath has made promotion his target for his time with the Grecians.
The midfielder joined on loan from Premier League side Reading last week and jumped straight into the starting XI as the Grecians overturned Bradford at St James Park. And with another promotion rival on the horizon in the form of Rotherham on Saturday, it is the chance to help take the Grecians back into League 1 that is appealing to D’Ath.
“I’m at that age where I need to be playing first-team football,” said the midfielder. “And Exeter are going for promotion, and that adds an extra incentive to be playing. If you can get a promotion on your CV then it’s the perfect situation.
“I just want to help the team and hopefully we’ll get some good results and a good run into the end of the season, and I hope we can push into that automatic spot.”
Having spent loan spells at Yeovil last season and Cheltenham earlier this year, Lawson has experienced a decent amount of League football already. Most recently he has been turning out for the Royals in the Under 21 Premier League, but the chance to feature in competitive adult football is one of the prime reasons he has opted to make the move to St James Park.
He continued: “There’s that extra competitiveness in first-team football. In youth-team football with the under-21s, it’s similar to how the under-18s used to be. It is competitive, but it’s more about development and passing. In the first team, you’ve got to be on it every game and you’ve got to have that desire to keep the opposition out and also to get the goals.
“It’s also a much better feeling to play in front of fans and getting the support from them – it gives you that extra buzz.”
He made a telling contribution on his first appearance in red and white stripes – a goal on the cusp of half-time and a performance that saw him named Man of the Match wasn’t a bad introduction to life at the Park.
“It was good, I really enjoyed my first game. I just worked my nut off and got a goal – and we won, so that’s the main thing.
“I had a gut feeling that the ball might get a deflection, so I made the run off the shoulder of the centre-back – I couldn’t really see Duke to be honest, and I think that helped because he’s a big presence isn’t he! But I was buzzing that the ball fell to me.”
And it brings the youngster back all-square now with the Grecians – having scored a stunner for Cheltenham when City visited Whaddon Road earlier this season, he’s already made amends for the Grecians!
“I did feel like I needed to get myself back on level terms!” he joked. “It’s nil-nil now, and hopefully I’ll get a few more.”