City shot stopper Lewis Ward says the Grecians must be aware of Cambridge United’s threats ahead of their clash at St James Park on Saturday.
Speaking before the match against the table toppers, Ward says the team’s strength in depth should be enough to get them through what will be a difficult match.
“It’s going to be tough. They’re top of the league, unbeaten and they haven’t conceded a goal.
“We know going into the game it is going to be difficult but we know we have the quality in the team and the depth to put in a good performance and get a good result.”
Cambridge United are yet to concede a goal in the league after three matches and also kept one in a shock Carabao Cup win against Birmingham City. While City are yet to keep a clean sheet themselves, Ward says that they are working on cutting out errors and strengthening their defensive prowess.
“We’ve conceded a few goals so we have to eradicate the mistakes that are making us concede and we need to make sure we’re solid at the back and it gives the boys up top the support to score,” he said.
“When we concede early it makes it hard for them because it means they have to go up and score two.
“At the Mansfield game they didn’t have too many chances except for their goal so if we can cut out the little moments then possibly we can go on to keep clean sheets.
Ward has been playing behind an almost entirely new backline this season but the 23-year-old says the defence have gelled well, with hard work in training contributing to a defence that bounces off each other both on and off the pitch.
“We do a lot throughout the week on shape and defending. There is a lot of communication there so it feels like we’ve been playing together for a long time.
“We’re into our fourth league game now and we have had cup games so we know how each other works.”