Tom Parkes says he and the Exeter City players are looking to build on the Grecians’ fine form going into a tough fixture at home to Colchester United on Saturday.
The City defender said he is happy with the defensive prowess of the side and their current league position, but reiterated that they need to take one game at a time if they want to be successful in Sky Bet League Two.
“We’re very pleased as a squad where we are at the minute,” said Tom. “But we’ve said already this season that we’ve got to take each game as it comes and come the end of the season we can hopefully still be where we are at the moment.”
The standout feature of City’s success this season has been their defence with 14 clean sheets, yet Tom was keen to emphasize that the whole team plays their part in the defensive effort.
He said: “That’s the main thing for us as defenders, to keep clean sheets. It gives the boys an opportunity up-front to go and win us the game.
“If we can keep clean sheets then it’s a positive and also gives us a bridge to build on to go and win the games. But fair play to the boys, as it’s not just the defenders it’s everyone playing in the game.
“If you go in at half-time and you haven’t conceded then it always gives you that momentum to go and try to get that winner. This season we’ve done that. We’ve had a good start to the new year and hopefully we can just keep that going and keep building on it.”
City have won their last four league games, and Tom said they need to take the positives from recent results.
He said: “We got another good win again on Tuesday in the cup, so we’ll take the positives from that into Saturday against Colchester as that’s going to be a tough game for us and we’re aware of that. We just need to carry on the form we’re in and see where that takes us.”
The City defender is expecting a good battle against Colchester who are not in bad form themselves, sitting seventh in the table.
“It will be a good game,” Tom added. “I remember playing them down at their place and it was tough. We got a good result, especially towards the end of the game. It’s going to be a tough game, they’re doing well at the minute like ourselves, and hopefully we can get the three points.
“The main thing is that we keep the momentum going and when you are winning games you want to keep that going. I think the way we feel at the minute is positive, we just have to make sure that we remain focused on Saturday because we know that they are on a good run. It will be a tough game but hopefully we can come out on top.”
Lastly, City have built a fortress at home so far this season, and Tom was quick to applaud the home support.
“They’ve been brilliant this season,” said Tom. “The Big Bank and the rest of the fans are always behind us. Hopefully on Saturday they can push us through and we can send them home happy.”