Experienced manager delighted with victory at Brisbane Road and discusses unpredictably of League Two

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale felt his team could have won by more at Leyton Orient on Tuesday night, but was thrilled they claimed an important 1-0 victory in League Two.

Ollie Watkins scored the only goal of the game at Brisbane Road in the 26th minute, yet the Grecians had several opportunities to extend their advantage.

They couldn’t take them, though it didn’t matter in the end with defeat for O’s leading to Alberto Cavasin’s sacking less than 24 hours after the match.

“It’s a crazy league this one because three wins or three losses and the whole complexion changes,” said Tisdale.

“We backed ourselves and played our football in the first half and got a goal. I think we could have got more and maybe if we were a little bit less anxious, we could have finished it off with two or three.

“But we were so keen to do well and the clean sheet will do us a world of good with a couple of good bits of defending at the end. It was such an important game and it was an important result.”

Tisdale insisted the timing of Watkins goal was key at Brisbane Road and was happy with their performance on the road.

Exeter were minutes away from winning at Carlisle United on Saturday before conceding twice in stoppage time to lose 3-2.

But their victory in east London was the sixth time they’ve triumphed away from home this season in the division.

“It’s not always tactical or technical, it’s feel and confidence. The human aspect is so vital in professional sport and I have a very good group of players,” said Tisdale.

“We’ve not had, this season, the rub of the green for all sorts of circumstances, but our away form has been good and we back ourselves in every away game – we did against Carlisle on Saturday.

“It’s a crazy league and I know what it’s like to struggle at home and Leyton Orient are in the same rut as us.

“But every game in professional sport is not about how much you want it, because all teams wanted to do well and win, it’s about getting the goal at the vital time and doing the important bits and that’s what we did.

Tisdale, who was previously linked with the O’s job, added: “It’s about where you finish in May not where you are in November. There are still 28 games to go and Tuesday was important, but it was not all about that game.

“It is about the next 29 and Leyton Orient was the first one, that’s how you look at it and we did what we have to do.”