Exeter City midfielder Reece Cole has set his sights on ending Lincoln City’s 18-game unbeaten run when the two teams meet at St James Park tomorrow night.
The Grecians return to home soil in the midst of an extended barren run. They haven’t picked up three points since defeating Port Vale on January 24th and are winless in their last nine outings.
The Devon-based side have also had to contend with losing manager Gary Caldwell, who opted to take up the vacant position at Wigan Athletic last month. This saw former boss Matt Taylor return to the dugout on an interim basis, having previously managed the club between 2018 and 2022.
Cole Targets Lincoln City Double
Cole returned to the side on Saturday as a substitute during the 2-1 defeat to Barnsley. The attacking midfielder had missed the previous five games through injury, but his presence provides a huge boost for Exeter.
The former Brentford youngster has four goals and five assists to his name this season and could return to the starting XI tomorrow night. League leaders Lincoln will provide the opposition, fresh off the back of an enormous 2-0 win over Cardiff City on Saturday.
The Imps haven’t tasted defeat in League One since a 3-2 reverse at Wycombe Wanderers in November but arrive on the south coast looking for revenge. Exeter are the only side to win at the LNER Stadium in the league this season, having secured a late 1-0 victory in the East Midlands in October.
Cole is desperate to repeat that afternoon, whilst also setting his sights on second-placed Cardiff this coming weekend. Speaking to BBC Radio Devon, the 28-year-old said:
“You want to test yourself against the best teams, whether that’s in the league, in the cup, whatever that may be.
“So to play against the top two in the next two games is going to be exciting.
“We’ve got to stand up to the challenge, we’ve got to be together, we’ve got to be a group of men that go out there and fight to get the three points because ultimately we need those three points.”
Exeter Run Relegation Risk
Exeter currently sit 15th, six points above the League One drop zone. Crucially though, their recent form has seen them slip to within six points of 21st-placed Leyton Orient, who also possess a game in hand.
Taylor’s team have three incredibly tough fixtures over the course of the next week, starting with tomorrow’s visit of Lincoln. Despite possessing home advantage, they will be the huge underdogs against both the Imps and then Cardiff on Saturday, before a tough trip to Luton Town on Tuesday week.
Failure to pick up any points from those fixtures will see the Grecians well in the relegation mix before they take on fellow strugglers Wigan Athletic and Orient later this month. Those two games kick off a run of four outings against teams below them, all of which are likely to define how their campaign ends.