Midfielder looks on to meeting with the Shakers
The Grecians go to Gigg Lane on Saturday in search of a seasonal double against Bury – and midfielder Liam Sercombe is keen to get back to winning ways.Exeter were held to a draw by Oxford United a fortnight ago at the Kassam Stadium before suffering a home defeat to Tranmere Rovers last time out.
Even so, the Grecians remain just three points behind the Shakers, who occupy the final play-off position at present. Only a substantial victory for the Grecians would take them above their hosts in the short-term, but three points in any manner would close the gap substantially to just goal-difference.
So Sercombe is keen to earn the three points in any fashion to keep their play-off ambitions within touching distance.
“We need to get back on track with a couple of wins – hopefully we can start that on Saturday,” Liam said.
“Bury are going to be a good side. They’re up there in the table too and we’re looking to get the better of them and come back here with the three points.
“We do desperately need the win to keep ourselves up and around that area of the table. If Bury get the win, it will push them further on and it’ll cause us to drift further away. So it’s a big game for both teams.
“Whether we play well or badly, we need to get the wins. There’s no point in playing well and coming out with no points to show for it. Sometimes you have to win the ugly games and points are the main thing for us at the moment.
“Hopefully we can get them on Saturday and start on a winning run like we did earlier in the season. With 17 games left, there are lot of points left to play for so no-one can write us off.
“Any team can beat any other team in this league and it has shown over the course of the season. But we need to start that sooner rather than later, starting with Bury on Saturday.”
Exeter’s 2-1 win against Bury at St James Park earlier in the season was a particularly entertaining fixture – many would agree that the Shakers, with former Grecian Daniel Nardiello spearheading the attack, were one of the more potent teams that Exeter have faced to date this season.
However the Gigg Lane pitch has suffered in the winter months, and is no longer conducive to the on-the-deck style of football which they played on that September evening at the Park.
The Shakers had been top of the division going into that weekend – yet an inconsistent few months have taken them away from the summit of the division.
Sercombe is sure that both teams will try to stick to their principles of playing football and was hopeful of Exeter being able to provide a stern match for their hosts – as well as snubbing the threat of his former teammate.
“Both teams try to play football – I don’t think the pitch is going to affect the way they play too much, as they’ll still want to move the ball like we do,” he continued.
“They have got a good team with some good players, but we’ve got a good enough team to keep picking up some wins.
“After we played Bury at St James Park, I thought they were going to be right up in the automatic promotion places – they were one of the better teams.
“Sometimes though, it doesn’t pay off for the teams that try to play the right kind of football. But they’ll stick with it, and so will we.
“We know all about Nards from when he was here – he’s got a good finish and he can make things happen out of nothing – but we’ll be trying to keep him quiet.”