Exeter City boss wants Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough to be ‘nervous’ as they target Owls upset

The Grecians have nothing specific to play for now that their League One status has been confirmed, and they have a whole host of injury concerns going into the game at S6 that will certainly make life difficult for them this weekend.

But Caldwell says that they won’t be using their absentees as an excuse, explaining that visits to stadiums like Hillsborough are ones that the players look forward to on the back of their promotion out of League Two a year ago.

"These are the occasions these players want to play in,” the Exeter boss told the club. “And that is something that the promotion last season gave them.

"As we have seen in recent games when we play the top teams, the level of quality goes up. It is a huge challenge and one that we are looking forward to. No matter who we have on the pitch, we have to be competitive and believe we can win the game.

"It'll be a full house and they really have something riding on it, so we have go and make sure we give them a real challenge on the day.”

He went on to say, "We have to understand the game... Away from home against team likes this we have to make it a nervous stadium as we can, and that means not giving away opportunities and early goals. We know how we want to go about it but it’s another thing doing that.

"They will come out on the front foot and get the crowd going. It's who dictates the battle early in the game that will decide it."

Wednesday desperately need all three points as they hope that results elsewhere will give them the chance to leapfrog Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town – possibly even both – come Saturday evening, and Darren Moore has spoken of the importance of the home support going into the tie.

The Owls are currently third and are already guaranteed a spot in the top six.

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