Matt Taylor says his players and staff will give former manager Paul Tisdale the respect he deserves on Saturday and has urged fans to do the same.
Paul Tisdale left Exeter City in the summer, after a successful 12-year-spell at the club that saw The Grecians move forward massively on and off the pitch.
Matt Taylor was instrumental in that too, joining Paul Tisdale as a player and helping the club to back-to-back promotions from the Conference to League One, before rejoining the coaching set-up at St James Park as they booked their place in back-to-back League Two play-off finals.
“I have known Paul (Tisdale) a long time and he has played a big part in terms of my career and I will be forever grateful to him in terms of that,” said Matt.
“Saturday is going to be a huge test. I just hope everyone respects what Paul did for the club over that 12-year period. He will get the full respect of my players and my staff and, hopefully, everyone else involved with the club will do the same.”
City will also come up against former players Jordan Moore-Taylor, Ryan Harley and Robbie Simpson. Asked if that would help the Grecians in their preparations, Matt added: “Not really, because they are good players.
“They were a credit to themselves when they were at Exeter City and like I said about Paul, hopefully, they will get the respect they deserve from the fans and the rest of the group as well.”
However, Matt is also quick to point out that they must treat Saturday as just another game of football. The Grecians have started the season well with three wins and a draw from their opening four matches and need to keep their focus and work-rate up for Saturday’s match.
“It is a game of football, simple as that,” said Matt. “We are going there to win this game of football. It is another three points at stake. We are on the back of a good run. We are still unbeaten, but it is the toughest test we will face so far.
“They are a good team, with a good manager, good staff and good people. We are looking forward to it, but it is another game of football for us.”
“It is always a difficult place to go,” added Matt. “The stadium is what it is in terms of it being a fantastic stadium but due to it being such a big stadium it does feel like there is never much of an atmosphere because of the size of it. It is a different prospect for us, but we have just got to take the game as it comes and for the players to play the next phase in front of them. I have got full confidence in the group. They have answered all the questions so far and hopefully they can do that again Saturday.”