Next Up: Fulham vs Exeter City (League Cup)

City finally registered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, as Paul Tisdale got one over on his former employers. To compound the misery, Dean Moxey’s red card means a further reshuffling of the pack on Tuesday night – while changes have been made to suspensions for accumulation of yellow cards, Moxey’s red still means he misses the trip to Fulham. With Troy Brown still out, it’s likely that Luke Croll will come in on Tuesday night having come on as substitute on Saturday. The other change is likely to be up front after Jonathan Forte pulled up early in the match. While Lee Martin came on for Forte, should Matt Taylor revert to a front two either Matt Jay or Tristan Abrahams will deputise.

City’s reward for their win on penalties against Ipswich in the first round was a trip to Premier League new boys Fulham. The Cottagers returned to the top flight last season after four seasons in the Championship by beating Aston Villa in the playoff final. Slavisa Jokanovic has spent heavily in the summer, and after two defeats Fulham registered their first win on Sunday by beating Burnley 4-2. Given the quick turnaround between games and the gulf in league position, it’s safe to assume Jokanovic will make a host of changes to his side for the visit of City to give his fringe players a run.

While there has been a chasm between the sides in recent years it was not always the case, and in the 90s there were frequent encounters. The last time the sides met was in the 1996/97 season when Fulham finally escaped from the doldrums to make their rise from fourth tier to first. Fulham were the victors at the Park in September with a solitary goal from Darren Freeman, before a Boxing Day encounter at Craven Cottage finished 1-1 – Terry Angus scoring at both ends. The league head to head is to Fulham’s advantage with 12 wins to City’s eight (six draws), but the only time the sides met in cup competition was in the 1969/70 FA Cup, when City produced an upset in winning 2-0 – how City supporters would like the same on Tuesday night!

Details 0f our last 10 matches with Fulham can be found at http://www.grecians.co.uk/wordpress/?p=9768

Match officials for the game will be:-

Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistant Referees: Mark Scholes and Derek Eaton
Fourth Official : Christopher Kavanagh
VAR: Michael Oliver

This will be the first time that Exeter City have experienced the use of a Video Assistant Referee. Kevin Friend has taken charge of just two Exeter City games, details at http://www.grecians.co.uk/wordpress/?s=kevin+friend