Exmouth Town assistant manager Andy Rawlings accepts that the club might have had a much more comfortable start to the competitive season.

Town play their first competitive match next Tuesday (September 1) when they travel up to Keynsham Town for an FA Cup extra preliminary round game and they follow that with a game the following Wednesday (September 9), an opening Toolstation Western League Premier Division game at Plymouth Parkway. Success in next Tuesday’s FA Cup tie would mean a September 12 home game in the next round of the FA Cup and then Town would face a Wednesday night (September 16) first home game of the new league term against Tavistock!

Given that Town lost 1-0 at both Keynsham and Parkway last season and also lost 6-1 to Tavistock in their last meeting – an FA Vase tie at Tavvy played just days after Town had beaten the same opposition at Southern Road 4-2 – these first three games of the season are tough, to say the least!

The Town number two says; “When Kev [Town boss Kevin Hill and I saw the first three games our initial thought was one of ’we could be sacked before the end of September’!

“In all seriousness, it could not be a tougher start. But then, we have to remember that we are part of a football club that aspires to continue an upward journey in the football pyramid and, if we are to achieve that then we certainly need to be able to face such difficult sequences of matches head on and not be daunted about the opposition – be that home or away.”

Town have lost their last two games on an artificial surface, but Rawlings feels that experience will help prepare the players for this attempt at ‘third time lucky’ next Tuesday night.

He says: “Look, it’s not rocket science. OK, it’s a very different surface to the one we play on week in and week out. That said, it’s a surface that is very true and so if you stick to your principles of pass and move and make sure everyone I the team understands what their role in it all is, then you’ll give yourself the best possible chance of coming out of 90 minutes on that surface with a positive result.”