Off-pitch uncertainty affecting Exeter players - Taylor

Exeter City interim manager Matt Taylor says uncertainty over the club's future is affecting his players.

The Grecians have not won in 11 games, and their 4-0 loss to high-flying Cardiff City on Saturday was their fourth loss in five.

The club has needed loans from owners the Exeter City Supporters' Trust, after an overspend last season, with the club warning of a reduced playing budget next season.

The chief executive and two chairmen have left in the space of a year, while Taylor is in interim charge after Gary Caldwell joined Wigan Athletic as head coach last month.

"I think it's only human nature, human instinct, that things do affect you," Taylor said.

"But that's still an excuse. Regardless of who's sat here, or what the position of the players are or the club, the pitch will always tell the truth. The pitch never lies.

"My job really is to feed back what I see on the pitch, and football is a game of opinions, but it never ever lies; the pitch tells the truth.

"The pitch at the end of the season can't say, 'Oh a lot of factors have played a part in us underperforming and being on the run that we've been on and feeling like we are doing at the moment.'

"We've got to put everything else to one side and be a collective unit that just attacks what's in front of us, and then we give ourselves the best opportunity to come out with more points than we have done in these 11 games."

Taylor's biggest concern is Exeter's inability to come back after going a goal behind.

They have not won a game after conceding first all season, and in recent weeks have suffered some heavy losses - they have been beaten 5-1 by Bolton Wanderers and 4-0 by Cardiff City at home in the past month.

Meanwhile, they were unable to hold on to a 3-1 lead at Peterborough United after going a goal down as they drew 3-3.

"We know about that; it's a pattern; it's been there for a long period of time," Taylor told BBC Radio Devon.

"It's my job as manager to give them a solution, not just in terms of personality but a style as well, and give them a safety net so that when that happens we're still okay, we're still in the game, there's still a lot of time left in the game, and we can manoeuvre certain situations.

"We did it at Burton to a certain extent; we did it in the second half at Lincoln without the outcome, even Barnsley towards the end - just believing that there's a long time left in the game and we're capable of showing more than what we've probably shown, certainly at the weekend.

"I'd love that stat to change; I'd like it to change firstly by not being behind in the game, and I'm sure the players are the same in relation to that, so we're all accountable for where we are right now."