'We were relentless in how we wanted to play and we need to continue it'
11:09, 18 Jan 2026
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There may have been plenty of teams laughing at Exeter City who had the ignominy of conceding 10 (TEN) at Manchester City last week in the FA Cup. But now the Grecians have the best defensive record in League One, the only laughing is coming from St James Park.
The double figures the Citizens put past Exeter was totally out of kilter with the rest of the season that Gary Caldwell’s men have put together. 23 goals conceded in 25 games tells its own story – especially given a good half a dozen of them were self-inflicted defensive errors you can’t legislate for.
No other side in League One has conceded less than a goal a game, which given that City have one of, if not, the lowest budget in the division, is an outstanding achievement. Stevenage, who have also conceded 23, were swept aside by the Grecians on Saturday who put three goals past them with ease, and in truth, it should have been more.
With City defence looking rock solid, and the goals starting to flow, Exeter are starting to look up the table. It is five wins in a row at St James Park now, and not since November 8 have they conceded a goal on home turf.
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Goal celebrations for Ethan Brierley of Exeter City during the Sky Bet League Match between Exeter City and Stevenage at St James Park, Devon on 17th Jan 2026. Photo: Phil Mingo/PPAUK(Image: Phil Mingo/PPAUK)
“The team are impressive in how they defend,” Caldwell said. “I think that is the key it's the team, how we pressed on the front today. Right from the front again, the pressure to stop the ball coming forward and when we needed to we defended the box brilliantly.
“Joe was excellent, his hands were safe, he came for crosses, he was brave, he showed a lot of personality, and the whole team deserve credit for our defensive record this year, and the foundation of that is hard work, running, you, backing each other up, getting to the ball. We need to continue to do that.
“I said that to the players. I think a lot of teams would have looked at us last week and been laughing at conceding 10 goals, but teams shouldn’t be laughing at our defensive record in this league because we are the best alongside Stevenage now.
“I think it's 23 goals we've conceded and I thought the players' reaction to last week was exceptional today. That's not easy to recover from that. To use that as a fuel to perform the way we did we need to continue that.
“There are no negatives. If you look at failure in it in a way that you can improve and learn, especially when you play against the very best and I do believe for a lot of these players for this club whilst that experience was uncomfortable, it's the best thing that could have happened, because we learned what the very best do and we have to take a piece of that and I thought today we did that.
“We were relentless in how we wanted to play and we need to continue it. It's a great reaction, but again, we have to go next week and if we want to learn from Man City, that's what they've done for years. They've been week in, week out, winning games. And we have to do the same. And it starts with recovery, starts with training on Tuesday and big weeks, work and preparation for Port Vale.”
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Gary Caldwell, Manager of Exeter City congratulates Timur Tutierov of Exeter City on his first goal on his debut during the Sky Bet League Match between Exeter City and Stevenage at St James Park, Devon on 17th Jan 2026. Photo: Phil Mingo/PPAUK(Image: Phil Mingo/PPAUK)
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One thing however the Grecians won’t be able to learn from and copy from Man City is the ability to spend money to get themselves out of holes and add players to the squad. While Timur Tutierov has joined on loan from Sunderland, that deal was only possible because Sil Swinkels was recalled by Aston Villa.
“There is no room in the budget,” Caldwell added when asked if any more arrivals were on the cards. “We will see what happens. Obviously there's players that might want to get more game time elsewhere so we're ready if we need to act.
“We know what we want to do in terms of the personnel and the players that we might bring in, but like Timur, we will only do that if something happens.”