Romared Match Thoughts Exeter City v Barnsley

One of the games in hand as we attempt to reign Plymouth Argyle in , with Argyle involved in next Sunday's PJT and our home game to Morecambe we COULD be within two points of them when they next play again .

First things first down at Exeter against a team who will prove difficult opponents on their own patch and beat us 3-0 at Oakwell whilst we were finding our league one feet .

How many of these early season games would we like back now then ?

Only a win will do now as a consequence of that ropey early season from .

The top four could all finish with over 90 points such is the big gap between the top teams and the majority in this Third Division.

With games running out fast even a draw is a setback, a defeat is huge. I always prefer wins in the bag for games already played rather than playing catch up. Even a draw at Exeter, which normally would be considered a good result, would be a setback. The pressure now ramps up to win, win and then win again. If Duff achieves that over the final ten games he will deserve a pay rise and five quality players of his choice to build for the Championship.

Most concluded that in 2016 the JPT Final against Oxford not only was a great day out but also gave us Wembley experience prior to the Play Off Final. No doubt some will claim it will be a problem for Plymouth.

#Promotion SB

One game at a time says Michael Duff .

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Originally Posted by SBRed48

The top four could all finish with over 90 points such is the big gap between the top teams and the majority in this Third Division.

With games running out fast even a draw is a setback, a defeat is huge. I always prefer wins in the bag for games already played rather than playing catch up. Even a draw at Exeter, which normally would be considered a good result, would be a setback. The pressure now ramps up to win, win and then win again. If Duff achieves that over the final ten games he will deserve a pay rise and five quality players of his choice to build for the Championship.

Most concluded that in 2016 the JPT Final against Oxford not only was a great day out but also gave us Wembley experience prior to the Play Off Final. No doubt some will claim it will be a problem for Plymouth.

#Promotion SB

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I think it's possible to win the PJT without it impacting on your promotion aspirations SB as many have done over the years , Rotherham did it successfully last season .

It didn't work for Portsmouth or Sunderland mind the last time we were in league one .

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Originally Posted by animallittle3

One of the games in hand as we attempt to reign Plymouth Argyle in , with Argyle involved in next Sunday's PJT and our home game to Morecambe we COULD be within two points of them when they next play again .

First things first down at Exeter against a team who will prove difficult opponents on their own patch and beat us 3-0 at Oakwell whilst we were finding our league one feet .

How many of these early season games would we like back now then ?

Only a win will do now as a consequence of that ropey early season from .

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We are not going to win every game , a point would not be the end of the world , just keep the run going & see where we end up .

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Originally Posted by Shadrack the Red

We are not going to win every game , a point would not be the end of the world , just keep the run going & see where we end up .

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Possibly , I'm working on the basis we can only drop another five points but none of those can be to Ipswich .

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Originally Posted by animallittle3

I think it's possible to win the PJT without it impacting on your promotion aspirations SB as many have done over the years , Rotherham did it successfully last season .

It didn't work for Portsmouth or Sunderland mind the last time we were in league one .

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And a loss Animal could lead to a poor run of form as it often does with cup finals.

Thinking about our encounter with Exeter last October, we were well beaten that day and that could be a warning sign for tonight. Reflecting back, it was the week where Luke Thomas broke his leg and Duff said that the injury impacted on our lads mentally, hence the poor display.

What I look at is that this was relatively early season. Exeter were still on a momentum charge from their promotion from lg2 and we were still getting to grips with Duffs system of play. They ran out deserved winners did Exeter and we had no answer that day.

Fast forward 6 months and we are a totally different proposition to the side that Exeter beat on that sunny October afternoon. They themselves have had a very good season. They won 5-0 at St James' on Saturday and will be fancying it against us tonight I would imagine.

Barnsley go into this flying. We are on top form scoring goals and winning big games. Suddenly we have the automatic places within our sight which creates a different pressure on our lads. Win tonight and we are 3 points behind 2nd place with equal games played.

Victory may prove difficult tonight. We struggled in our last two away outings with a hard fought 0-0 draw at Bristol Rovers and a scrappy 1-0 victory at Wycombe. We haven't been great but picked up points and clean sheets in those last two away fixtures which is what it's all about at this stage of the season.

It's a long journey down there and the month of March has been a hard month with some huge fixtures. Our free weekend was right on cue and just what the doctor ordered in my opinion. It's given our lads some extra recovering time has that postponed Ipswich fixture.

We can go into this one with fresher legs and minds and although it'll be difficult tonight, I expect us to get the job done. Don't care how we play, just bring back those 3 points lads and we can start putting real pressure on the clubs above us.

Copy that Pass.

I will be tuning into i follow from Dhaka - another £10 well spent hopefully.

3 points please Lads.

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Originally Posted by Shadrack the Red

We are not going to win every game , a point would not be the end of the world , just keep the run going & see where we end up .

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Exactly Shad, and surely we will lose one or two games. I've never thought we were quite in the hunt for the top two, so its all going down to the wire, in the Play offs.
Here away at Exeter I'd take a point if I/we could.