Team News:
Jamie Stephens will miss this game due to the hamstring injury picked up against Cambridge. Harry Taylor (metatarsal) is sidelined along with Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro (knee) and Curtis Weston (knee).
Elliott Johnson (knee) and Dave Tarpey (knee) are both out with long-term injuries.
Last Time We Met:
This is the second meeting between the two sides this season, the previous fixture ended in a late 2-1 defeat for Barnet at The Hive London.
In what was a tight match, the Bees took the lead after half time, Shaq Coulthirst putting the finishing touch on Jamal Campbell-Ryce’s low cross.
Ruben Reid pulled a goal back in the 78th minute and the Grecians snatched all three points in the 4th minute of stoppage time thanks to a goal from Jayden Stockley.
Manager:
Paul Tisdale is the high-achieving and long-serving manager of Exeter City.
Tisdale’s first three seasons at Exeter transformed a club that had fallen out of the Football League. He inspired two successive promotions to lift City from the National Conference to League One.
The Grecians had noted his early progress as coach of university side Team Bath before making what turned out to be an astute appointment.
Paul, who joined Team Bath in 2000 after his playing days were prematurely ended by injury at 27, led the side to four promotions. He also took Bath to the first round proper of the FA Cup in 2002 as the first university team to enter the competition since 1881.
Exeter, too, made meteoric progress under Tisdale’s tutillage. They reached the Conference play-off final in his first season – 2006-07 – before being pipped for promotion by Morecambe.
Despite selling players to the value of more than £250,000, Tisdale continued to find recruits to fit a neat, passing style. Exeter returned to Wembley in 2008, this time winning their play-off showdown with Cambridge.
As one of only four promotion-winning managers in Exeter’s history, Tisdale attempted to repeat the success in League Two and guided them to second place with a final-day win at Rotherham.
More success followed for Tisdale and Exeter as he secured their League One status in 2009/10. The following campaign (2010/11), Tisdale once again improved his side’s position and were indeed in promotion contention, only to miss out on a play-off place by one point.
Malta-born Paul was a midfield product of Southampton’s youth system before embarking on a career that included spells in Finland and Greece. He was also played with Yeovil and Bristol City, from where he had a first taste of life with Exeter on loan.
He was named Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month for August after Exeter’s great start, which has seen them drop points in just one match. It is the first time in his 11 years at the club he picked up that honour.
Dangerman:
Forward Jayden Stockley was a summer signing and has hit the ground running at St James Park. After 20 games for the Grecians, Stockley already has 6 goals, 1 coming against Barnet earlier in the season, and 5 assists.
Stockley rejoined Exeter City on August 31, 2017, having previously spent the second half of the 2015/16 season on loan at the club from Bournemouth.
Stockley had a successful first spell at the club, netting 10 goals in 21 appearances for the Grecians. That earned him a move north of the border to Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen where he scored six goals in 38 appearances for the Dons despite only making 12 starts for the club. He then decided his time was up at Pittodrie and rejoined City.
Connections:
Alex Nicholls played 74 games for Exeter City across two loans and a permanent move. During that time, he scored 11 goals and was part of the Grecians side that held Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side to a 2-2 at home to earn a replay at Anfield. He featured in both matches against the Reds.
Last Time Out:
Last time out, Exeter City took on Forest Green Rovers at St James Park.
The score was goalless at half time, but torrential rain throughout the half and during the break forced the match officials hand and the game was abandoned.
Ticket info:
Supporters can find out more about tickets details here.
Keep up with the game:
Full match commentary from every game is available on iFollow. If you are based outside of the UK & Ireland, you can watch the game live on iFollow.
You can also get live match updates on Twitter throughout the afternoon. We are also on Facebook and will go behind the scenes on our Instagram.
