Next Up: Exeter City vs Burton Albion
City took a huge leap towards securing their place in next season’s League One with a comprehensive 3-0 win on Tuesday night at a Shrewsbury side who were rocked by an early red card. That win lifted City to ten points clear of the relegation zone, albeit having played two more games than Cheltenham in 21st. Another win against a fellow struggler on Saturday would therefore ensure only a Devon Loch-style collapse would see City drop back into the fourth tier. City emerged largely unscathed on Tuesday, the only potential doubt being Vincent Harper, who went down in the first half and, although he appeared to have recovered, was withdrawn at half time. Ben Purrington is likely to step in should Harper not be considered fit enough to start, while any other changes may be with fatigue in mind – Tom Carroll was on the bench on Tuesday and is likely to start, but that would mean leaving out one of Woods, Harris and Cole, all of whom excelled at Shrewsbury.
Burton, having finished comfortably clear of the drop last season, decided in the summer to sign up anyone who’d appeared in a City shirt, with four players brought in who’d featured for City last season in Blackman, Harper, Chauke and Caprice. With the Brewers struggling in the league, Dino Maamria was relieved of his duties and was replaced by Martin Paterson. Fortunes have been mixed however and Burton are still one of the clubs looking even more nervously over their shoulder than City as they lie in 19th place, five points clear of Cheltenham – having climbed a place on Tuesday night despite losing at leaders Portsmouth due to Cambridge’s capitulation at Lincoln. Burton have gained just one point from their last five games including a 2-0 home reverse against whipping boys Carlisle, so Paterson will be only too aware of the magnitude of this fixture in determining the outcome of their season.
Like with City, the lack of a regular scorer appears to be a major issue, with their 5-goal top scorer (Beryly Lubabla) no longer even at the club having signed for Wycombe in the January window. One player signed on loan was Kyle Hudlin, who you won’t be able to miss as he stands at a massive 6’9″ tall. The former Solihull Moors man, signed by Huddersfield in 2022, has yet to register a league goal, however, for either his parent club or during loan spells with AFC Wimbledon and Burton. Of the former City players in the Burton squad, only Rekeem Harper has really had much game time of late, having started and hit the bar early on at Portsmouth on Tuesday night.
The reverse fixture back in September saw City gain some revenge for losing both fixtures last season as a Ryan Trevitt strike sealed a 1-0 win before Steve Seddon was sent off for the hosts late on. Last season’s fixture at SJP saw Burton emerge victorious 2-0 with second half goals from Oshilaja and Kellior-Dunne. Burton have opened up a league head to head lead with ten wins to City’s six, and just three matches finishing level.
The match officials for this game will be:-
Referee: Martin Woods
Assistant Referees: Justin Amey and Dean Treleaven
Fourth Official : Oliver Spender
The last time Martin Woods refereed an Exeter game was last September when City played Cheltenham which Exeter won 1-0. He booked three City players (Carroll, Wildschut and Scott) and two Cheltenham players.
Pre-match interview with Kevin Nicholson
Pre-match interview with Will Aimson
The last time we played Burton Albion
Celebrations after we won at Burton and on top of league 1