Tis to wait on fitness of players until Saturday morning
Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale admits he will have to assess the health of the squad on Saturday morning before finalising his plans for the match with Cambridge United.
The Grecians face Shaun Derry’s side at St James Park at 3pm on Saturday and Tis is keen to name a similar team to the one that beat Barnet 4-1 away in their last League Two match.
However, he is not sure if he will be able to that.
“The first thing I need to do is establish the health of the team and which players I can select because there are some variables in there that I won’t know if I can do that until Saturday morning,” said Tis.
“I’d like to go again with the same set of players that we had over the last two Saturdays and take that forward into the Cambridge United game. However, there are a few unknowns at the moment and we will have to wait and see, but it is really important to us that we continue with that form.”
City are actually three games unbeaten having drawn 0-0 with Grimsby Town on October 8, beaten Barnet and won 3-2 at home to Chelsea on Tuesday in the EFL Trophy.
“A week is a long time in football especially with two games, but on the flipside this time next week we will be talking again and I have got to make sure that we continue that form,” said Tis.
“Every week is different and it is a new set of challenges. It will do us no harm the confidence we have gleaned from the win at Barnet and Tuesday was a good fillip for us as well against a Chelsea team.
“We have sort have got some momentum now and that can give you some strength going into the next game. The back four have been functioning pretty well and that has been one of our big issues this year but it seems to be functioning quite well so fingers crossed they can continue with that.”
Tis also had a message for a lucky Exeter City fan - Roger Hamilton-Kendall - who has been backing The Grecians to win every game they have played 4-1 since 2008 to a reported profit of around £600.
City beat Barnet 4-1 on Saturday and Roger had odds of 100/1 on that scoreline – netting him £1,000 from his £10 stake.
The odds on a repeat on Saturday have dropped to 55/1, but Tis admits it will be a nice situation to be in if they can net Roger another win over the bookies.
“We would do our very best for Roger again,” he said. “If we get into those situations more often I will be delighted. It is a nice little topic for us and I much prefer him doing that rather than him putting £10 on us losing 4-1. So the more often the better.”
Asked if he'd be tempted to take a striker off if City were 4-1 up on Saturday, with Roger in mind, Tis added: “I do feel semi-responsible now, but of all the things I have got to think about adding that one to the list is not a good idea. I will leave that to chance, good fortune and the direction of the wind.”