Grecians boss reacts to FA Cup exit
EXETER CITY manager Paul Tisdale said that he was proud of the club after the Grecians bowed out of the Emirates FA Cup with a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday night."We have mixed emotions," Paul said. "I guess that when I wake up on Thursday, I'll look back and see an interesting, challenging and exciting FA Cup run for us. I suppose that we had our chance a week ago, 2-1 up with fifteen minutes to go. The reality is that tonight was going to be a very tough challenge for us. No matter how big the ask is, you spin the positives in your mind and try to convince your team of a way that you can win the game. We didn't get going for the first twenty minutes, and I'm a bit surprised that we didn't do better in that period. At 1-0 down, you never know - something can change against the run of play. Generally I'm very proud of the club - the supporters were fantastic and a lot travelled. It's a reward for them - we had a hundred at Morecambe last Tuesday, and for those who follow us everywhere, it was a good night for them. I'm proud of the way that the club has conducted itself over the course of this FA Cup run, and one or two players did themselves proud on the pitch also.
"Regardless of strategy and tactics, the players have to cope with the environment. It was never going to be the same game as the first tie; I'd be a fool to think that we could recreate that here. The players needed to be sharper and to have more belief tonight. It took us a while to get going, but I shouldn't be too downbeat. The reality is that we're a League 2 team; we have some players in the side who are in their late thirties, and it was just a difficult night for us. I won't use tonight to be too downbeat on the players.
"They were experienced players, but again, I don't think we could have recreated last week's game. We weren't good enough, and we lost 3-0, but the reality is that it was a tough challenge, and a big ask for us."