Tomorrow afternoon sees Exeter City come to the Gresty Road Fortness with the Alex having won our last 5 home games and being unbeaten in the last 7 in the league.
Looking at the visitors, so far this season they have 14 victories, 9 draws and 9 losses in the league as they sit in 8th place. They have beaten Carlisle United, Morecambe, Cambridge United twice, Notts County, Mansfield Town, Cheltenham Town, Stevenage, Swindon Town twice, us, Oldham Athletic, Yeovil Town and MK Dons, they have drawn with Newport County, Port Vale, Yeovil, Grimsby Town, Crawley Town, Northampton Town, Colchester United, Morecambe and Carlisle whilst they have lost to MK Dons, Lincoln City, Forest Green Rovers, Tranmere Rovers, Macclesfield Town, Bury twice, Grimsby Town and Newport.
In cup competitions, they lost to Fulham in the EFL Cup 2nd Round after knocking Ipswich Town on penalties while they lost to Blackpool in the FA Cup. They have had some success in the EFL Trophy, topping their group that also contained Yeovil, West Ham United’s Under-21 side and Bristol Rovers before being knocked out by Peterborough United in Round 2.
Looking back in the archives, the two teams have met 47 times with Exeter leading the head-to-head with 19 wins to 16 with 12 draws. Crewe’s biggest win came in a 4-1 victory at St James Park in August 1967 while Exeter’s biggest win came at the same venue with a 4-0 win in February 2017. Exeter have won the last 4 meetings between the sides, a 4-0 in Devon in February 2017, the league double last season (3-0 down south and 2-1 in South Cheshire) and a 1-0 game just before Xmas.
Who are the officials for the game?
The officials for this game see Dean Whitestone as the man in the middle where he is assisted by Craig Taylor and Marvyn Amphlett with Alan Clayton being the fourth official. During the last 5 seasons the following Crewe games have been refereed by Whitestone:
- Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Leyton Orient (11th April 2015) – Dalla Valle
- Crewe Alexandra 0-0 Port Vale (8th August 2015)
- Southend United 1-1 Crewe Alexandra (1st March 2016) – Cooper
- Crewe Alexandra 0-0 Portsmouth (13th August 2016)
- Coventry City 0-0 Crewe Alexandra (30th September 2017)
- Cheltenham Town 1-0 Crewe Alexandra (9th December 2017)
I asked Exeter supporter Rodney Boulton for his thoughts going into the game.
How do feel that your season has gone since we last played?
The season has gone pretty much as I expected, in or around the playoffs. Not bad considering we have a new manager in his first season.
What do you think the team will be for Saturday’s game?
The team should be Pym, Sweeney, Woodman, O’Shea, Moxey, Holmes, Law, Taylor, Collins, Williams and Bowman.
Is Stockley the danger man for this game or is there someone else that we should look out for?
Stockley has signed for Preston (editor note: I forgot about the transfer). The main man will be Nicky Law and he’ll be key to where we finish this season.
Any changes on where the Grecians will finish (you previously said top half pushing towards the play-offs)?
No, I still think that we’ll be in the same position.
Any changes to who you think will be promoted or relegated?
The only change that I’d make would be Yeovil to go down.
