Wheeler: “It’ll be a tough game”

Winger looks ahead to cup encounter with Bournemouth

It was merely two and a half years ago that Exeter City and AFC Bournemouth were competing in the same division

But Tuesday evening’s Capital One Cup first round tie between the sides now represents a gulf in league standings, making the Grecians the underdogs and the Cherries the hot favourites to secure passage to the next round.

Bournemouth have upped their spending power in the last few seasons – while they might not have the history or infrastructure of some of their divisional rivals, they still managed a top-half finish in the Championship last season and are putting a first ever season in the top-tier in their crosshairs.

Eddie Howe’s men kicked off the new campaign with a 4-0 win in Huddersfield at the weekend and winger David Wheeler is under no illusions of the task they face.

“Bournemouth had a really good win on Saturday, and they did really well last year too so it should be a tough game,” said the former Staines man.

“They might not have a massive stadium for that level like Leeds or Birmingham, but that isn’t to say that the players they’ve got aren’t at that level.

“We were underdogs against Portsmouth on Saturday, albeit on a smaller scale, and I arguably we could have won the game.

“It is slightly different this time in that Bournemouth are certainly expected to win, but we gave QPR a good game last year at this stage and their first goal was very fortunate.

“It might come down to a couple of things early on.  As long as we can stay in the game, the more agitated they are likely to get to win the game in normal time.”

City were threadbare against Portsmouth as injury and illness took its toll on an already small squad.

However David felt that he and some of the other boys were approaching full health again and are ready to contribute for the Grecians.

“All of the guys that have been ill, including myself, are pretty much right again now,” he continued.

“The squad is looking in much better shape than it was only a few days ago – things are getting back to how they should be.”