Exeter City defence must improve says manager Gary Caldwell

Exeter City have conceded 29 goals in League One this season - more than any other side in the top half of the division

Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell says his side's defence must improve after their 4-1 FA Cup loss at Oxford United.

City have conceded 14 goals in six matches since Caldwell has been in charge, keeping just one clean sheet.

"Our Achilles heel is too many opportunities, too many shots at our goal, too many goals going in the back of our net," he told BBC Radio Devon.

"It's been a problem for a number of weeks now and it's something we have to find a solution to now quickly."

Exeter have faced League One leaders Plymouth Argyle, where they lost 4-2, and fellow high-fliers Ipswich Town, Derby County and Peterborough United since Caldwell came in to replace former boss Matt Taylor.

After a goalless draw at Derby in Caldwell's first game, City have conceded almost three goals per game on average under the Scot.

"We've lost two games to the two top teams in this league, and I can understand why we lost those games, the performance levels, especially in the Plymouth one, was very good, the Ipswich one was OK," he added.

"But today we fell well short of the standards that we have set recently and we have to do something about that quickly.

"I'm ultimately responsible for those results, but it's been happening for a number of weeks now, even before I came to the club the amount of goals that go in the back of our net, so it's not something that's happened recently, it's been a problem for a while."