MARCUS Stewart believes a  win over his old club Bristol  Rovers tonight could prove  pivotal to Exeter City’s  Coca-Cola League One survival  bid.

The Grecians will start the  game four points adrift of safety  and Stewart admits that, at the  moment, his side’s destiny is  not in their own hands.

Yet, with 11 games still to go,  the veteran striker knows there  is still plenty of time for City to  drag some of their rivals back  into the relegation dog fight and  says tonight’s match presents  the perfect opportunity to start  doing just that.

Stewart said: “These are big  games now and we need to get  the three points tonight. We are  still in touch with other teams  and we are playing one or two of  them over the coming weeks.

“I think there are four or five  teams above us that are involved. Any of them could get  sucked into it and it might be  that we win a couple of games  and one or two get dragged back  into it.

“Hopefully other teams will  slip up because it is not in our  hands at the moment. We have  got to get some points and start  drawing others back in because  we are four points off it at the  moment.”

A win for the Grecians this  evening would bring them to  within a point of fifth-from-bottom Tranmere Rovers, albeit  having played a game more.

Stewart enjoyed five years  with Bristol Rovers before leaving for Huddersfield Town in  1996 after scoring 79 goals in 171  starts for the Pirates.

And Stewart is relishing the  prospect of facing his former  employers tonight and believes  that, even at the age of 37, he still  has a vital role to play in City’s  bid to beat the drop.

“I want to play in every game,  regardless of who it is against.   But playing against Rovers is  something different because I  used to play for them,” said the  boyhood Bristol City fan.

“I am 37 now and I am still  enjoying the challenge of being  in this situation.

 “Of course I would rather not  be fighting relegation but I am  here and I have been in this  position before.

“I still believe I have  something to offer and if the  manager sees that he will play  me.

“We will see what he decides  for tonight but I am available  and keen to play.”

City are hoping to end a  nine-game run without a win  against a Rovers side who have  lost 10 games on the road this  season.  That away record looks  to have cost the Pirates a shot at  the League One play-offs after  they made an excellent start to  the campaign.

But Paul Trollope’s side have  come into some fine form in  recent weeks, including a 4-0  win at Swindon.

“They have been on a recent  good run of form,” said Stewart.   “We know what a danger they  are.  They are very organised,  play a similar way in each game  and we know what to expect.”

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