Exeter City v Cardiff City preview

Exeter City have the chance to record seven pre-season wins from seven as they welcome Cardiff City to St James Park tonight (July 28th).

With City’s Sky Bet League Two season kicking off in just over a week against Blackpool, the tie against the Bluebirds will be the last chance for the players in a game situation, to convince manager Paul Tisdale they are worthy of a starting place at Bloomfield Road on August 6.

The Grecians beat Taunton Town on Tuesday night as City rounded off their pre-season away fixtures. Prior to that victory they had already beaten Weymouth FC, Bristol Rovers, Bodmin Town, Truro City as well as an impressive 1-0 win over Championship side Burton Albion.

City will now have the opportunity to once again test themselves against an opponent from a higher league, and another win for the club would be the perfect tonic for boss Paul Tisdale going into the new season.

Cardiff boss Paul Trollope brings his side to Devon following a pre-season tour of Germany, and the 44-year-old who only took over the role at the end of last season, has given Bluebirds youngsters plenty of opportunities in their pre-season campaign, some of which we may see line up against the Grecians.

With both teams understandably tinkering with their line ups as they bid to get as many players the maximum possible minutes going into the new campaign, we will inevitably see major changes throughout the match.

But for City, we could see a similar side to the eleven which started the friendly with Burton Albion last week.

Featuring the likes of Ollie Watkins, Troy Brown and new signing Robbie Simpson, the Grecians looked compact and at times very impressive against the Championship club, who failed to unlock the City defence.

With boss Tisdale looking for a similar performance, he may well stick with a similar side to which started the win over the Brewers, and if that once again pays off the Grecians boss should be confident of the side he chooses against Blackpool.

The match will be the 51st meeting between the two sides with the Welsh club dominating the victory count with 19 to City’s eight.

Despite the poor record, the clubs haven’t met since 2002 when the Grecians were beaten 3-0. City’s last victory over Thursday nights opponents came in January 1997, after a 1-1 draw the Grecians ran out 4-2 winners on penalties.