It really is a concerning time to be an Exeter City fan at the moment. The past week has seen City exit both cup competitions to leave the focus for the remainder of the campaign solely on the league, which might end up being a blessing.

City produced a decent performance against Middlesbrough in Tuesday nights 2-3 defeat at SJP. While Middlesbrough were the better side, Exeter produced a display full of heart and endeavour.

City gave Boro a Halloween scare when they took the lead in the 13th minute through Ryan Trevitt. The finish was majestic and slightly against the run of play. It was Kyle Taylor who played the ball into Trevitt, who hit a sweet strike on the half volley, which curled and hit the underside of the crossbar to nestle in the visitors net.

Boro were causing City problems, particularly through Morgan Rogers, but the midfield 3 of Harry Kite, Kyle Taylor & Ryan Trevitt were full of energy, pressing & enthusiasm. Despite being under the cosh for the last 5-10 minutes of the first half, City held out impressively to lead at the break.

What has now become one of the biggest talking points of the game also occurred in the 34th minute, when Demetri Mitchell tried to beat his man on the right wing before going down and appearing to be in pain. Mitchell tried to carry on, but when he next attempted a run down the right, he immediately called to the bench and sat on the turf. Demetri has since been given an ACL diagnosis that will see him out of action between 6-9 months. Mitchell has undoubtedly been City’s star man this season and also their biggest attacking threat. This injury feels like a hammer blow to City’s season.

A slow and sloppy start to the second half for City saw Middlesbrough score two goals within 15 minutes after the break. A superb strike from Rodgers drew Boro level and then another great hit from Silvera put the visitors in the lead just before the hour mark. While both strikes were of high quality, City will feel they could have done better by closing down the opposition was greater urgency, particularly for the second goal.

At this point, the game looked as if it was only heading in one direction, and Boro threatened to run away with the game. However, 7 minutes later, completely against the run of play, Trevitt scored another superb goal to put City level. The strike gave City some belief and they were more positive in the stages immediately following the goal. It started to look like City might be able to take the game to the lottery of penalties, but in the 82nd minute, Trevitt was again involved, this time pulling at a Boro player in the box, resulting in the referee awarding a penalty. Emmanual Latte Lath dispatched to make it 2-3 to the visitors.

A gallant effort by City, but Boro had that extra quality to help them to victory. That being said, but for a silly mistake for the penalty, City could have possibly taken the game to spot kicks. The overall performance should have been used as a springboard to better things.

Just 4 days later, City were at SJP again, this time in the FA Cup, facing Wigan Athletic. This was a chance for City avenge the somewhat unjust 0-2 league defeat a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, the scoreline, and the game itself, was almost a carbon copy of the league contest.

City altered their tactics, pushing Yanic Wildschut up front alongside James Scott. Jack Aitchison also returned to the starting line-up after a brief groin injury.

While City again had a lot of the ball, it was the final third of the pitch and in front of goal that City badly struggled. City’s play up to the final third is generally good, but we seem to lack ideas and conviction in the final third and the loss of Mitchell was sorely felt.

James Scott appears to be suffering from a lack of confidence at the moment and has struggled to make an impact in the last 2 games. While the fans frustrations are understandable due to recent results and our lack of goals, singling out any player for criticism is not constructive and will do nothing to help Scott regain the confidence he was playing with at the start of the season. Admiral Muskwe & Yanic Wildschut also need to contribute more at the top end of the pitch, although I do feel Wildschut is showing more signs of being match fit and posing more of a threat in the last couple of outings.

City’s away game at Fleetwood on Saturday feels like a must win game, particularly when you consider the next visitors to SJP in 2 weeks time are 4th placed (at time of writing) Peterborough United. Fleetwood are currently in 22nd place, 4 points behind City.

All signs currently point to City needing to be active in the January transfer window. In what is a notoriously difficult time to buy players at reasonable cost, City might well have no choice if they want to retain their League One status. The loss of Mitchell is huge and he will need replacing, alongside a striker who can come in and help us convert more of these chances. I fully respect and agree with City’s way of operating as a club, but this feels like a key moment where some funds are going to have to be freed up for the manager to strengthen.

To end on a positive, it has been great to see Harry Kite back in the centre of midfield for the last 2 matches. I thought he was superb against Middlesbrough and he had the most successful tackles of anyone on the pitch, and only Boro’s Hackney retrieved the ball more than Kite. He also won 75% of his duels. Kite was also one of City better performers in yesterday’s FA Cup defeat in my opinion.

Chieck Diabate has also returned to the match day squad and he had a very encouraging cameo against Boro on Tuesday. It’s great to have Chieck back as an option for the backline.

City’s defeat yesterday will mean that we have a free weekend at the start of December. Here’s hoping that the break will give some players the chance to return from injury, such as Reece Cole & Ilmari Niskinen. With Mitchell out, the returns of Rankine & Niskinen feel much more urgent.

Frustration in the crowd is starting to grow, but everyone needs to stick together during this tough period and try and come out of the other side together.

Here’s hoping for 3 points at Fleetwood on Saturday.

City Till I Die!