Exeter City midfielder Harry Kite says that the Grecians will be looking to kick-off their EFL Trophy campaign in positive fashion as they face Forest Green Rovers at St James Park on Tuesday night.
"We are really looking forward to it." said Harry. There is a really good vibe and buzz around training at the moment.
"Like Matt said in his interview it's another game to show Matt why we should be selected for more games coming up, so we are all looking forward to it."
The match, which kicks-off at 5:30pm is the first to take place at St James Park since City's play-off semi-final against Colchester United a couple months ago and the squad are looking forward to returning to home soil.
"We trained there last Thursday and the surface was really good. We are looking forward to playing another competitive game there it's just a shame that we can't have our supporters there to cheer us on.
"It's strange playing without supporters, I still don't think you get used to it. We are all counting down the days until fans can return and hopefully that will come soon, as long as everyone keeps sticking to the rules. Having the fans in makes such a difference to the match day.
"It was great at Tiverton, it almost felt back to normal, the tickets went in about an hour so people are desperate to come back and watch us. It's nice to see familiar faces and hear their voice behind the goal.
Exeter City put a very impressive campaign together in the EFL Trophy last season, going through the group stage unbeaten and making it to the semi-final, where the team was beaten 3-2 by League One side Portsmouth in the dying stages.
"It's a competition that we take really seriously and with the success last season it shows how valuable it is with players getting minutes. said Harry. "It's a competition that we value at players so we will be looking to go and win our first game and set the group off right. It's a competition that we want to do well in."
"I didn't expect the stadium to be as full as it was. It was a great experience playing against some good quality League One players which was only going to help mine and some of the younger lads game.
"It's a competition I found valuable last year, so hopefully it will be as valuable this year."
Exeter City's squad this season features a number of talented youngsters that have progressed from the Academy and they are excited by the fact that manager Matt Taylor has stated there will be more opportunities for the younger players this season.
"Last season was a great opportunity to show everyone how we are progressing. We get to play some good teams from a higher league, and we will be looking to go one better than last year.
"It is exciting, I'm eager to get involved and get as many minutes as I can. I've just got to keep my head down and keep working hard and show everyone what I can bring to the team.
Supporters might not be able to attend the match, but it is live streaming on iFollow and Harry encourages fans to watch if they can:
"Watch the game if you can." added Harry. It's a good opportunity to see us play again before the league season kicks-off at Salford on Saturday. It will be a good game of football against a good team and we are looking forward to playing against them, so any support will be appreciated."
