The sense of anticipation around EX4 for Nottingham Forest’s visit on Tuesday night is understandable.
It is 44 years since Exeter City last played in the FA Cup fourth round and while there have been third-round draws – and replays, too, in those days – against Manchester United (2005) and Liverpool (2016), City fans are daring to dream a little.
For defender Pierce Sweeney, however, the scale of the Grecians’ task is not in doubt.
“I’m hoping they rest a few players, to be honest,” he tells The i Paper.
“I think they are the most in-form team in the country and we are probably the most out of form.”
City’s captain has a point: last time out, Forest thrashed Brighton 7-0; in Exeter’s most recent home game, Leyton Orient scored six.
But while fans have been snapping up tickets, the ground staff covering the pitch in case of frost, and ITV cameras setting up at St James Park, a little of the Cup fever has rubbed off on him.
“It’s the FA Cup, it’s our stadium and our fans are going to play a massive part in how we affect Nottingham Forest,” he says.
“I hope it’s going to be a really lively atmosphere, and our pitch isn’t in great condition. We have to try to use that to our advantage.”

Two Demi Mitchell goals helped knock out Oxford United in the third round, and Mitchell scored the winner to beat Luton Town in last season’s Carabao Cup, but Forest’s lightning fast counter-attackers are a different proposition, and one Sweeney must reluctantly watch as he recovers from a calf injury.
More famous names have pulled on an Exeter shirt in recent years – Ollie Watkins, Jay Stansfield and Ethan Ampadu, to name three – but to many fans “Sweenz” is Mr Exeter City.
When the Dubliner signed for the supporter-owned club he formed an immediate bond with the group of fans who paid £15,000 of his wages for a season.
“It started off a really good relationship,” he says. “I’ll be forever grateful for that opportunity.”
But there has been a Sweeney-shaped hole in the team for six weeks and the defence which set a club record five clean sheets in a row in October has been hammered by injuries. “It has been tough watching, I’m not going to lie.”
It says it all that manager Gary Caldwell signed three centre-halves at the end of the transfer window.
“It’s really important to get those lads gelled into the squad and how we play,” Sweeney says.
“The game being on Tuesday has given us an extra three or four days.”
So what of Forest?
“They are absolutely flying and have some really top players,” he says.
“I imagine they will make some changes because their focus will be on making the Champions League, so hopefully we can catch them cold.”
Funny he should say that: Forest went to Dubai for warm weather training last week, prompting Caldwell, a Wigan player when they stunned Manchester City in the 2013 final, to remark, “There’s a lot of sand on the pitch, so it isn’t entirely different from Dubai.”
The last time Forest played at SJP – in a testimonial – Trevor Francis played his first minutes as Britain’s first £1m player.

Testimonial matches may appear to belong to a bygone age but Sweeney, 30, has been granted one this summer to mark his 10th season.
In that time, the Grecians have been promoted, built two new stands and a new training ground HQ, mostly financed by player sales.
“We are improving all aspects of the club, on and off the pitch,” he says. “How we use the funds may be frustrating for fans but it’s clever.
“We keep selling players for really good fees. If we have our full squad fit and firing we are a much better side than we have been showing. People always ask how we keep producing players and I don’t really know.
“We have really good academy coaches and a brilliant pathway to the first team. For a club that doesn’t pay massive wages or big fees, that’s the only way we function.”
The latest with obvious star quality is 17-year-old Jake Richards – a midfielder with an innate ability to play on the half-turn.
“He has a brilliant future ahead of him,” Sweeney says.
“We are waiting for the next batch. We need to get them in the first team before the big boys take them off us.”
Players move on but the family feel of a club often goes with them. Sweeney watched City’s recent match at Birmingham with Stansfield’s family when he would rather have been marking him.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if we see some players coming back to Exeter at the end of their careers and help us again,” he says. “Hopefully it’s Ollie Watkins because we could do with a couple of goals.”
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/hCm0cxe
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