Winger into his stride after a year with the Grecians
At the start of what will be his first full pre-season as a Grecian, City midfielder David Wheeler is feeling a lot more comfortable with life as a pro footballer than he was 12 months ago.
The former Staines man was on trial with Exeter a year previous, and only received registration to play on the eve of the opening day of the season against Bristol Rovers.
And now he is looking forward to getting stuck into his second campaign with City.
“Last season was very different because I was travelling back and forth. I was on trial at Dagenham for a bit as well and I was doing a lot of travelling,” said David.
“And coming from two leagues below, I was quite unsure about myself when I was coming into it and it was quite a big challenge for me. But I’m a lot more relaxed now and it’s a lot easier for me to focus on what I’m doing.
“It was the unknown of it more than anything really. I definitely feel a lot more confident now than I did last season.”
Before the beginning of any season, it can be hard to truly predict what a realistic ambition for any team ought to be.
Whilst promotion is always a hope, Wheeler is reluctant to make any grand claims – and instead is hoping that he and the team can just improve and build on last year and let the position in the table look after itself.
“It’s always risky to set yourself season-long goals,” he continued. “In every team I’ve ever been in, people have always said things like ‘let’s make the play-offs’ – it’s easy to throw around a target like that.
“I think it’s quite futile to do that. The only goal that you can feasibly set yourself is to be better than the previous season – whether that’s week-to-week or season-long. It’s a lot more realistic than any other throwaway comment.”
Click here to watch the full interview on Grecian Player, where Wheeler talks about getting back into training, the trip to Brazil, and an early exit from the World Cup for England.
Click here to watch the full interview on Grecian Player, where Wheeler talks about getting back into training, the trip to Brazil, and an early exit from the World Cup for England.