Exeter City manager Matt Taylor has been speaking to the media ahead of his side’s trip to The Johnny-Rocks Stadium, in a game that pits two teams in the League Two automatic promotion places against each other.
How much are you looking forward to facing Cheltenham Town?
They’re a really good team for this level, they recruited well again in this last window on top of a really strong core team that they had last season and that’s why they are where they are in the league, if they keep getting it right in terms of recruitment they won’t be in this league for long.
They’ve got a really strong core in terms of a system and the personnel which they’ve consistently used in the last couple of seasons, I think it will be our toughest test this weekend, they might say the same about us but I think it’ll be a good game of football.
Hopefully it’s not a game where two top teams cancel each other out and it turns into a drab affair, we don’t want that especially with fans being there. It’s 2nd vs 3rd and I know the table is not very important at the moment but it’s an indicator of how two teams have started the season.
Cheltenham have one of the best defensive records in the league and with your team firing in the attacking end, do you think now is the best time to play Cheltenham?
Not really, I don’t think it plays too much of a part, we’ve been in good form, they’ve been in good form. I just think it’s two teams pushing towards the right end of the table, ready to play each other and it would be good to get an idea of where our immediate competition lies.
They were close to it last year, they went on a fantastic run before lockdown then unfortunately got beaten in the second leg in the play-offs and they had that really strong core group last year and they recruited well again so full credit to Cheltenham it’s a team we’ve got a lot of time for.
I hope it’s not a cagey affair, the way we’re setting up at the moment probably allows for an attacking game but we’re also conceding goals but that’s part and parcel of it.
I hope it’s a good game, not just for the fans but for the two sets of players who are trying to play the right way.
Last season it was a 0-0 draw between the two teams, now that you have changed formation into a back four with three forwards, is that going to change how you attack the Cheltenham back three?
It’s suited us against the opposition recently but then we’re playing against a totally different team this weekend. Obviously a back three turns into a back five so there’ll be different spaces in different areas of the pitch so it will be up to myself and the coaching staff to assess that.
We’ve been quite flexible this season when going to a back three ourselves so if the need is there to match them up and take each others space out of the game then that’s an option we’ve got but you want to concentrate on what you can control and that’s obviously our squad, our formation, our system, our style of play and Cheltenham I’m sure will be doing the same.
Last season people talk about sometimes 0-0 draws turn into a drab affair but then that’s probably a reflection of where those two teams were at the time and sometimes good players cancel each other out, but whatever happens this weekend I’m sure both teams will be approaching it trying to win the game.
