Exeter City aim to 'pack a punch' in toughest friendly against Bristol City

Exeter City will face their toughest test of pre-season when they take on Championship outfit Bristol City on Tuesday. The Robins are the only higher division opposition Matt Taylor’s men will face and come into the clash on the back of a 1-0 win over Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

Nahki Wells scored the only goal of the game at Home Park late on to condemn the Pilgrims to defeat. The Grecians come into the clash off the back of a 1-1 draw at National League Yeovil Town, with Matt Jay’s equaliser ensuring City came away with something from a disjointed performance.

The fixture is being played behind-closed-doors at the Robins’ training facility. It is expected to be another sweltering heat today as extreme heat hits England, and one in which City’s players will have to work harder out of possession than they have so far this pre-season against the toughest opponents they will face.

“Today was a level up. Tuesday will be another level up,” Taylor said after the draw against the Glovers. “We expect to spend more time without the ball and we expect them to control the game with their possession play. We will have to do some out of possession work, but we want to pack a punch as well.”

City had plenty of the ball at Huish Park but created very little in the way of chances – Harry Kite and Jack Sparkes saw shots from distance go narrowly wide, Sam Nombe saw a header just off-target, and Jevani Brown had one cleared off the line late on – but Grant Smith didn’t really have a save to make. Even City’s goal had an element of luck about it as Sparkes’ cross was badly dealt with by a Yeovil defender and fell nicely to Jay, who couldn’t miss from six yards.

Taylor was not impressed with some of the performances of the Grecians,