Demi Mitchell returns delights Exeter City as competition for places hots up

GARY Caldwell has praised the Exeter City medical team as Demetri Mitchell edges ever closer to a first start for the Grecians in over a year.

The exciting attacker picked up a serious knee injury in the 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat to Middlesbrough on October 31 last year, which kept him on the sidelines for almost a year to the day.

The 27-year-old returned to action by coming off the bench and scoring the winner in last week’s 3-2 EFL Trophy win at Bristol Rovers and followed that up by winning a penalty in the epic 5-3 FA Cup first round win over Barnet last weekend.

Given his impact in both games, it is hard to believe the former Manchester United youngster has been out for so long, but it remains to be seen whether Caldwell feels he is ready for a start with Charlton Athletic visiting St James Park tomorrow in an important League One fixture.

He’s been brilliant and that’s why we were desperate to keep him at the club, even though he had a long term injury,” Caldwell said. “We believe in Demi, he’s a fantastic player, great character around the place.

“I think it’s credit to the medical team, Michael (McBride), Les (Barrow) and the sports science department, the work that everyone’s done with him. You see the level of fitness he’s got even after being out for such a long time and that’s credit to the staff that have worked so hard with him and I still think he’s got so much more improvement in him after a long-term injury - and it’s good to see.”

Ilmari Niskanen has been asked to switch from right to left flank for the Grecians for much of this season, which is not natural for a right-footed player. The Finnish international is in fine form right now and the prospect of him returning to the right, with Mitchell on the left, is certainly a mouth-watering prospect for the Grecians – and something that has happened just twice since Niskanen joined Mitchell at St James’ Park last August.

“It sounds good!” Caldwell said. “I think we’ve got competition; Vinnie Harper’s back as well, Caleb (Watts) is back, Amani (Richards) can play on the right. When we get everyone fit we have so much more options, especially in those wider areas.

“That’s probably been our issue position. At the start of the season we’ve played Milli (Alli) out wide a lot when, ideally, Milli wants to play as a number nine. So once we get those players back, I think we have so much more options, we have so much more speed in wider areas and that is a big asset to our team.”

On-loan Leicester man Richards has not been seen in a City shirt since the 1-0 win over Cambridge United at St James Park on October 5. Caldwell explained it was for two reasons – injury and competition for places in the City squad.

“He’s been training, he had a little niggle a few weeks back which kind of set him back, but he’s been full training and it shows the level of competition we now have in the squad that he’s not making squads,” Caldwell said. “Caleb missed out Saturday, Vinnie missed out Saturday. It shows the numbers we have and the quality we have that top players like that aren’t getting in.

“But they have to keep working and things change quickly in football, so they have to be ready for that opportunity when it comes.

“There are only seven subs on Saturday, so there will be even more players who have to miss out and it becomes difficult not just picking the team but picking the finishers as well. We’ll look at that in the next couple of days and put what we think can go on when they give.”

Meanwhile, City’s Under-18s will host AFC Dunstable in the second round of the FA Youth Cup.

The match, which will be held at St James Park, will be a 7pm kick-off on Tuesday, November 19 under the lights.

The match will be pay on the day only (cash and card accepted) in the Nevada Construction Main Stand with admission prices set at £5 for adults and £3 for under-18s.