Opposition Lowdown: Gary Caldwell’s Relegation-Battling Exeter City

Following a couple of mid-table finishes, the Grecians are battling to avoid the drop this season.

Form

Exeter City finished last season in 13th place in League One, in their second season back in the third tier. They were promoted back to League One in 2022, finishing as runners-up in League Two, ending a 10-year spell in the fourth tier.

The Grecians are currently in a relegation battle, sitting 19th in the league, three points above the drop zone after seeing 10 wins, six draws and 16 losses so far this season. Their recent form has been poor, having lost three, drawn one and won one of their last five league games. They come into this game off the back of a 1-1 draw at home to Northampton Town, following an 87th-minute equaliser from the Grecians’ Sonny Cox.

The two sides faced each other back in October, with Reading claiming a 1-2 victory in Devon after first-half goals from Jayden Wareham and Michael Craig.

The boss

Gary Caldwell: Caldwell was appointed Exeter manager in October 2022, taking over from Matt Taylor, who left the club to join Rotherham United.

Caldwell had a 14-year professional career as a defender, starting off at Newcastle United, before also playing for the likes of Hibernian, Celtic and Wigan Athletic, where he became captain of the Latics.

He ended his playing career at Wigan, before taking up a coaching role with the club. It wasn’t long until he was made manager, taking over from Malkay Mackay in 2015. Caldwell won promotion in his first full season as manager, winning the League One title in 2016. He was sacked by Wigan partway through the 2016/17 season and went on to manage both Chesterfield and Partick Thistle.

He then had minor roles at Newcastle United, Manchester City and Hibernian before his move back into first-team management with Exeter. The 42-year-old has led The Grecians to 14th- and 13th-placed finishes in League One since taking charge.

The Scotsman likes his teams to play aggressive, front-footed football, while also looking to hand opportunities to younger players.

Squad

Exeter lost top scorer Millenic Alli to Championship side Luton Town in the January transfer window, but they did manage to bring in seven players to supplement their squad for the remainder of the season.

Three players came in on permanent deals with defender Angus MacDonald signing on a free transfer and defender Ed Turns (Brighton & Hove Albion) and forward Andrew Oluwabori (Halifax Town) signing for undisclosed fees.

Four players arrived on loan with defender Alex Hartridge joining from Wycombe Wanderers and midfielder Joel Colwill signing from Cardiff City, while midfielder Ryan Trevitt and winger Tony Yogane both joined from Premier League Brentford.

Defender Jack McMillan may miss out on Tuesday’s game after coming off injured in Exeter’s weekend match against Northampton. Former Royal Pierce Sweeney is also expected to continue to miss out through injury, while winger Yanic Wildschut’s season is over following a knee injury suffered back in August.

Predicted lineup

Whitworth, Niskanen, MacDonald, Hartridge, Purrington, Mitchell, Woods, Aitchison, Yogane, Trevitt, Magennis

Key player

4. Alex Hartridge: Defender Hartridge joined Exeter in the January transfer window, signing on loan from fellow League One side Wycombe Wanderers.

He was returning to the club where it all started for him, having come through the youth system at Exeter. The Devon-born defender made his professional debut for the club in 2017 but had various loan spells at Truro City and Bath City early on in his career.

Hartridge went on to make 154 appearances for Exeter, scoring three goals. He ended a seven-year professional spell at the Grecians last summer when he joined Wycombe on a free transfer, having turned down the offer of a new contract at Exeter.

He has found first-team appearances hard to come by so far this season, having only played a part in six league games for Wycombe. He has though already made four appearances for Exeter since rejoining.

The 25-year-old is a centre-back who is a good passer of the ball.

One to watch

1. Joe Whitworth: Goalkeeper Whitworth joined Exeter on a season-long loan deal last summer from Premier League side Crystal Palace.

Whitworth started his youth career in the AFC Wimbledon academy before joining the youth setup at Crystal Palace in 2016. He worked his way through the youth teams at Palace and made his professional debut for the club in a Premier League game against Brighton in March 2023.

His first loan spell away from Palace has ensured he is gaining valuable first-team experience, having started every league game for The Grecians this season, keeping 10 clean sheets along the way.

The 21-year-old has represented England at under-15, under-16 and under-18 levels and is a strong shot-stopper with great reflexes.