Gary Caldwell praises ‘fantastic’ Exeter after Accrington thrashing

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell hailed the “most complete performance” of his reign as his side thrashed Accrington 5-0 at St James Park.

Demetri Mitchell put the Grecians in front with a delightful curling effort just before half-time and City moved through the gears after the break, scoring four more goals through Josh Key, Sam Nombe, James Scott and the outstanding Jay Stansfield.

“I feel that a win like that has been coming,” Caldwell said. “We have been dominating games and creating more chances.

“It was about being more ruthless and killing teams off and when we get in front, how to control the game, keep up our intensity and keep doing what we are doing to get us into that position.

“I thought we were fantastic. They were a threat first half and they put us under pressure and asked questions of us.

“There were a few things were I felt we could have been better at half-time. But once we created the free play in midfield, the chances kept on coming and some of our finishing was excellent. When we got those opportunities, we were ruthless.

“I think it was our most complete performance since I have been here but, as I said to the players, we are not getting carried away.

“The challenge is to put a run of consecutive unbeaten games together in the last 10 games and our preparations for a big game on Tuesday night starts now.

“The finishes were fantastic, but it was a brilliant moment when Stanno got his goal in front of the Big Bank.

“He’s gone a long time without a goal, but his training, his standards, the assists he’s got – he’s been outstanding for a young player and I am so happy for him. Everyone was.”

Well-beaten Accrington failed to register a shot on target all afternoon as they were outclassed by the impressive Grecians.

Manager John Coleman said: “We didn’t play well and they played well. That is the harsh assessment of the game and that is the fact.

“We were very much in the game 37 minutes, but we hadn’t really laid a glove on them.

“They put one over the bar, but we were coping with them. But you don’t come in football matches just to cope, we have got to start hurting teams and we are not doing that at the moment.

“After the first goal went in, we regrouped and got to half time. We made three positive subs in my opinion trying to get a foothold in the game and after three minutes it all goes out of the window.

“We have had a good chat in there with the players. The skipper gave a rallying cry saying that we are not going down and the will of this club will keep us up, but we need to start showing that with the performances.”