Following on from last weeks excellent draw against Hereford Utd it's time to pit our wits against another one of the better sides in the Conference and that team is Exeter City.    It only seems like a couple of months since we last played them and, do you know what? it is.

We went to Devon in August but sadly went down to a single goal scored in the second half.    Our performance deserved at least a point but even back then the first signs that our team was shot shy and the midfield was not very competitive began to show.

Our front line is still the same as that game with Christie, Sheldon or Atieno interchanging in the starting line up and that will continue for the game tomorrow.    Iyseden Christie is now back in contention after missing the Hereford game through suspension but the Harriers manager, Stuart Watkiss, has hinted that after the good showing of Taiwo Atieno last Saturday he may keep him on the bench at first and then hopefully he'll be on later in the game.

Tai's partner from last Saturday, Gareth Sheldon, will more than hoping to be alongside him and raring to get himself on the scoresheet against his old team.    He left Exeter for us in August and although he had a lot of support from some City fans from others he received quite a lot of criticism concerning his supposed drinking problems and his lack of ability to keep his weight down.    He still seems to have a slight weight problem but no worse than any other lower league player.

In defence, Wayne Evans has now decided to leave the club following the recent announcement that he was to follow a coaching path in Shropshire and eventually coach kids abroad.    We now have cover in Johnny Mullins but that's only for one month and we'll need to get a permanent arrangement, hopefully involving the Reading youngster, very soon.

Watkiss is on about bringing in another loan player in soon but that's mainly because we have three defenders on four yellow cards.    Mark Jackson, Daryl Burgess and Wayne Hatswell are the offenders and it's cover for Hats that will be the priority here.    We have cover for the first two named but not Wayne.

Martin O'Connor is doubtful for the game and the prospect of him undergoing surgery on his knee is fast approaching.    The club are obviously waiting for the heavier weather for this to be done so that Martin can play as many games as possible but if it does need doing then there's not much they can do about it.


City have added to their squad in recent weeks with the arrival of Danny Woodards.    This ex Chelsea youngster can play either in midfield or in defence but it's at the back where he's playing most of his game after having displaced the veteran defender Scott Hiley.

They have no other injuries, as far as I know.    Their websites are not exactly first with the news so it's any ones guess.


With City at second place in the table they're due a fall and they have had a hiccup in results while on the road in recent weeks.    They lost two away games in a row at Stevenage and York but came back in the last one to beat Crawley.

This should be a good game with an entertainment rating as high as last week but I think we'll just about edge this one and not before time.


Harriers from:
Danby, Lewis, Hatswell, Burgess, Mullins, Ludlow, Jackson, O'Connor, Fleming, McHale, Graves, Heslop, Hurren, Russell, Christie, Atieno, Sheldon, Wilson, Blackwood, Thompson.

Exeter from:
Rice, P Jones, Hiley, B Jones, Sawyer, Gaia, Todd, Taylor, Cronin, Farrell, Challinor, Phillips, Mackie, Flack, McConnell, Watkins, Afful, Buckle, Clay, Moxey, Seaborne, Leliuga, Scully, Woodards, Vinnicombe, Buckler, Ghiglia.