Exeter City will be using the final four games of their League One campaign to start to plan towards next season. The Grecians are all but safe after a run of 14 points from their last 18 available which has taken them clear of any relegation danger and into the top half of League One.
City have 54 points on the board – only two short of the tally of 56 games from last season – and are on a run of six games unbeaten. It is the longest run they have had in the third tier since November 2011.
Manager Gary Caldwell is keen to keep that run going, starting with the trip to Leyton Orient on Tuesday night, with the first priority as you would expect, trying to win the game. But he is also having half an eye towards the 2024/25 season as he looks to try and fashion his squad for the next campaign.
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Saturday’s 1-0 win over Stevenage saw Alex Hartridge named as the captain on what will likely be the academy product’s final appearance in the red and white after the defender turned down the offer of a contract extension and will leave in the summer. Caldwell confirmed that other selection decisions were made with an eye on next season, as loanee Mo Eisa was not in the 18, nor was Yanic Wildschut, while Jake Richards and Caleb Watts were named on the bench in preference to Harry Kite and Kyle Taylor, both of whom are also out of contract in the summer and seemingly departing.
“First thing we want to do is win the game, the second thing is to involve players who will be here or who we want to be here next season,” Caldwell said. “Every game we will look to win the game, but to pick players who we feel will be with us next season.
“The worst part is telling people they are not in the squad. Yanic was disappointed, but he has helped in a lot of ways on and off the pitch and the experience he has. He will be involved in other games and we want to keep him next season, but that is his option.
“Mo is someone who potentially won’t be here. Mo has been a great help, he has done great for us, and has pushed Sonny to different levels, which is what competition in the squad does and drives performances and standards. But he has things for next season he wants to look to and we do. Every squad will have different facets but we will build towards winning and next season.”
Richards, at the age of 16, came off the bench on Saturday for his eighth appearance of the season, although his first since November. Watts meanwhile after scoring on his debut in September, has had a frustrating time of things with injury, and Saturday was also only an eighth appearance, and only a second since October.
“Players have to earn it, it is not a free hit that if you are an academy player you get in,” Caldwell said, after City started with an academy product for the 475 th successive game. “Jake has come back strong, had strong performances in U18s and with the PDD squad in behind-closed-doors games and deserves his chance.
“Caleb been a fantastic trainer, top two or three every day, but with the run we were on and the group physically at a different level, we felt we had to keep going with the group and he was unfortunate to miss out. We want to see how good he is, he has huge potential, but we hope he can show us enough to stay with us next season.”
Two other players Caldwell would love to have back at St James Park next campaign are loanees Ryan Woods and Vil Sinisalo. Midfielder Woods has impressed in the heart of midfielder since his January deadline day move from Hull City, while Aston Villa goalkeeper Sinisalo has been one of, if not, City’s player of the season.
“Ryan was a player who had lost his love for the game,” Caldwell said. “I met him in the summer and said we could offer him a home to thrive. It wasn’t to be in the summer, but on the last day of the window, we got him in and he has been brilliant. “Not just his performances but personality, standards in training, and he shows young players what it takes to reach the levels he has.
“We want to keep him next year. There is a lot to go through for that, contractual situations, but Ryan knows how much we think of him and appreciate what he has done for the club.”
Asked if Sinisalo could also return, Caldwell admitted: “That one might be a bit harder.” He added: “We are a fantastic club for loan players, we give them an opportunity, have fantastic training facilities, and a great environment to play home games, and behaviours we want to give them similar to that of the Premier League.
“I will keep him here forever if he wants to stay but that might be difficult. All the boys and staff love him, he has been fantastic with the other goalies, and relationship with Kevin Miller. Don’t forget, Vil was sent back from a loan at Burton last season, so what we have done has been fantastic. We hope his career will go on from strength to strength, and if he wants to do it here next year, we will be delighted to have him.”
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