Gilly: “We have to give our all and have no regrets – win, lose or draw”

Saturday’s opponents are Scunthorpe United, who are currently top of the division and need just a single point from the trip to St James Park to secure promotion to League 1.

On paper, it looks a daunting prospect for the Grecians on their final home fixture of the season.  The Iron are on an astonishing unbeaten run of 28 games since Russ Wilcox too over the management of the club.

However midfielder Matt Gill is keen that City should go in confident of ending that record, and give all they can to try and get the right result.

“Those long runs have got to come to an end at some point, so let’s hope that comes this weekend,” said Matt.

“We have to concentrate on our own game as much as theirs – we know we can compete with the best teams in this league.

“So we have to give our all and have no regrets – win, lose or draw.  If we give everything we’ve possibly got, then that’s all you can ask for.”

Saturday isn’t make-or-break for Exeter, as even a defeat wouldn’t prevent their fate from being in their own hands on the final day against Hartlepool.

Exeter’s previous meeting against Scunthorpe came with a phenomenal 4-0 win in Lincolnshire for the Grecians – which was Gill’s second debut for the club, after returning from Bristol Rovers.

Gill is pleased that weight is less burdensome for Exeter than it is for Northampton, Wycombe and Bristol Rovers, all of whom trail City in the league table.

“There is still a lot of pressure, but it is a good thing that it is still in our own hands,” Matt continued.  

“We’ve put ourselves in this situation so we’ve got to be able to deal with that pressure and take whatever comes with needing something from the last two games.

“But the dressing room is well up for it – there are enough calm heads in there to know that we’ve still got the opportunity to stay up.

“Scunthorpe have gone on a good run since our match at Glanford Park, but we’ve beaten them once and we’ve recently beaten the likes of Fleetwood and Plymouth – there have been some good results against good teams.

“So the lads are positive enough – we know that it’s not going to be easy, because Scunthorpe are fighting for something at the top end of the table.

“There’s a lot on the game, which is a good – I’d rather have it that way.  It is better to have something on the game for both teams, and hopefully we can come out on top.”

Exeter could have killed off the relegation worries on Easter Monday with a win against local rivals Torquay – all other results being the same, three points against the Gulls would have guaranteed survival for City.

Unfortunately that chance was passed up as Torquay completed a turnaround victory, but Gill feels that the City players have gotten their frustration out of their system quickly and will be looking to head into the meeting with the Iron in a positive mood.

“All the teams around us other than Hartlepool got beat, so you could look at it as a missed opportunity,” he said.  “But the most disappointing part about it simply was that we didn’t win the game.  We went in looking for all three points, but we’ve got another opportunity this week.

“It was a very disappointed dressing room, but you can’t afford to have too much of a hangover from it.  There are two games to go, and we’ve got to make sure we do whatever we can in those two games to get positive results.

“You do have to put it behind you quickly.  There was a lot of disappointment, and even having a day off on Tuesday the lads were still thinking about it – but the lads have been able to train well and get it out of our system.  Now our eyes are set firmly on Scunthorpe on Saturday.”

Exeter City v Scunthorpe United takes place on Saturday 26th April, kicking off at 3pm at St James Park.  Tickets are on sale in advance and will be available on the day of the game.  Click here for more information on ticketing for this game.