Ahead of this afternoon's Sky Bet League Two fixture against Swindon Town, Phil Wallace addresses Stevenage supporters in the Digital Matchday Programme...
Good afternoon and welcome to the players and officials of Exeter City.
I always look forward to playing Exeter. They always seem to put out good sides and are always there or thereabouts. I have a lot of time for Julian Tagg and you have to admire their Academy development, which he’s been passionate about for the 20 odd years I’ve known him.
Just look at some of the lads they’ve developed and sold to clubs - Ollie Watkins and Ethan Ampadu are just a couple in recent times, but there’s been a long, long list. Not only do they develop these lads, but they have the nerve to hold out for the right money and the right club for the lad. That’s not an easy thing to do when your Club needs the funds, believe me. We had a similar situation with both Ben Wilmot and Leke Drake, and it took a lot of nerve to turn away early bids and wait for the right club at the right time. You need some luck as well. I know there were other clubs in for Ollie Watkins for example, but Brentford was a great choice and the sell on they’ve recently received just makes it that much easier to continue growing.
Like us they’ve improved their stadium and, like us, they’d very much like to move up the pyramid. They sit in 6th place as we go into this game, against our 17th place – but only three points separating us. This just goes to show how tight the league is. The win at Oxford on Tuesday night was well deserved. We could have been a few down early on but clawed our way back to dominate the game and, I thought, thoroughly deserved our win.
This is the time in a season when a team starts to settle down. Good sides start to show some continuity and I’d like to think we’ve re-set and found ourselves again, after a strong start and then losing our way for a couple of games last month. This happens and it makes us stronger as a group – confidence is high throughout the Club and we want to start making a name for ourselves by winning, week after week.
Hearing our fans getting behind the team makes a huge difference, so let’s hear you at the game!
Enjoy the match!
- Phil Wallace
- Please click here to view or download the Stevenage vs Exeter City Digital Matchday Programme in full.
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Match tickets for Stevenage vs Exeter City are now available from www.borotickets.co.uk.
