Promotion race is still too close to predict for Tisdale
EXETER City manager Paul Tisdale says guessing which teams will finish in the top seven places in League Two is still too difficult to predict despite a gap starting to open up between the teams in and outside the play-off places.
The Grecians face Fleetwood Town on Saturday, who have seen their promotion hopes suffer a set back with a run of four games without a win.
The Cod Army currently find themselves ninth in the table and seven points adrift of Northampton Town in the final play-off place, but with 10 games to go Tisdale is well aware that his team's fortunes as well as Fleetwood's can change quickly.
"It has been a season where you can have two games and the turnaround on your opponents can be huge," said Tisdale.
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"The table is very tight and the games are coming thick and fast, so you have always got the potential to slip away or climb the table dramatically.
"We have got 10 games to go and we still could see a club dropping away or one or two clubs jumping up.
"So a game at a time is what we have to concentrate on in terms of focus.
"In terms of predictions and how that top eight or nine will develop, it is very hard to pick. We have got three points at stake at Fleetwood on Saturday, but any win puts pressure on your opponents in the table regardless of who you are playing.
"And if you lose a game it adds pressure to you, so I think it is about keeping your nerve. Taking it one game at a time and, if you lose a game, not getting too panicked by it."
City go into the match full of confidence having recorded victories against high-flying Port Vale and Northampton ahead of last night's (Wednesday's) trip to Bristol Rovers.
However, despite topping the form table at the start of March, Tisdale is wary that his team have got a tough month ahead.
"I think the teams we have got to play, have all got something to play for," he said.
"We should go into the games positive, expecting that we are capable of a win, but on the other hand the teams we are playing against are not far away from putting together some real good performances also."
Fleetwood Town were the bookies' joint-favourites for promotion at the start of the campaign, but having sacked manager Micky Mellon in early December, following a poor run of results, they haven't managed to mount a sustained push for the promotion places under new boss Graham Alexander.
And with just 10 games to go the Cod Army will be looking for wins rather than draws in the final two months of the season, but Tisdale doesn't expect that to change their approach to Saturday's match.
"I have to say they do play a very attacking style and I don't see them changing that too much," he said.
"I think we will play the same way also. I think we are not quite at that point, where teams are going to change their style. At three or four games left then it might be a be different."
Exeter City have no fresh injury worries ahead of the game, but will be without Mark Molesley who serves the final game of his three-match ban.
Predicted line-up: Krysiak, Amankwaah, Woodman, Coles, Baldwin, Bennett, Doherty, Oakley, Gosling, Davies, Cureton
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