Caldwell calls for improvement as Exeter end losing run

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell was pleased to end a run of six straight defeats in League One but said there was plenty of room for improvement after a 1-1 draw with Lincoln.

Conceding soft goals has been a common theme in that run of poor form and Exeter did so again on 20 minutes when Will Aimson’s poor header fell for Paudie O’Connor and he crossed for Alistair Smith to score from 10 yards.

The Grecians were much improved after the break and deservedly drew level in the 81st minute when Ryan Trevitt headed in from Demetri Mitchell’s cross but despite plenty of possession, Exeter could not find a winning goal.

“I thought in the first half, we were a little bit edgy again, but we created a great chance for Ads (Admiral Muskwe) and a brilliant chance for James (Scott) just before half-time,” Caldwell said.

“I think we took that momentum at the end of the first half into the second half and in the second half, I have seen the team that I saw earlier in the season playing on the front foot, aggressive, creating opportunities for our wide players one-v-one and thankfully, from that, we created an opportunity for Ryan and he scored a brilliant goal.

“We could have scored more but I think, under the circumstances, it’s a really good point and something for us to build on.

“We can’t keep conceding bad goals. It is something we have tried to address and I don’t think we started the game with the right intensity.

“I felt they scored and just tried to slow the game down, sit in and play on the counter-attack, which most teams do here. But we have to stop conceding those early goals and giving ourselves a mountain (to climb) to get back into the game.”

It was a third game unbeaten for Lincoln’s interim head coach Tom Shaw, who said: “It has been a long week, we have had two very long trips.

“It was a bit of a disaster getting down here with the traffic but the physical effort of this group of players has been phenomenal.

“Perhaps we were just feeling it in the last 10 minutes but the character, grit and determination we have got us over the line and we managed to get a positive result.

“Everybody who watched this game will see Exeter are a very good football team. They passed the ball well, they have got nice rotations, they are obviously well drilled and well coached. And the run of the games they have had, some of their results have not been just so we knew it was a tough one.

“There is some real technical ability and I am not sure whether we have unlocked it to its maximum to this point.”