Gary Caldwell has given his thoughts as the Grecians came back from 4-1 down at half-time to snatch an unthinkable 4-4 draw with Crawley in the final match of 2024.
An uncharacteristic and lacklustre City trailed at the break, but a mixture of of Caldwell's substitutions, incredible strikes and the suction of the vociferous Big Bank pulled the game back level in stoppage time thanks to Demetri Mitchell's strike.
"We gave ourselves a mountain to climb, but all credit to the team they climbed that mountain and we could have even won the game. The chances we created, the energy we played with, and the way the Big Bank sucked that ball in.
"It was a fantastic second half and we have to take that momentum forward with us into Wycombe.
"I take full responsibility for what happened in the first half, and maybe that was too many changes and breaking up those connections. But we conceded bad goals we wouldn't usually concede. We had to do something drastic and half-time, we changed the shape to be more open, but more aggressive and that was a risk.
"Today was down the players' bravery."
Hear from Gary: