Spain trip triggered Grecians' revival - Caldwell

Gary Caldwell's Exeter side stretched their unbeaten run to five games with a 1-1 draw at Rotherham

Gary Caldwell believes Exeter City's training camp in Spain at the end of last month has played a "huge" part in the team's recent League One revival.

The Grecians have gone five games unbeaten since returning from their trip to La Manga, partly funded by the proceeds of the club's run to the fourth round of the FA Cup, to climb to 16th in the table.

1-1 draw at Rotherham left Exeter with an eight-point cushion over the bottom four and Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon: "When we had the chance to go to La Manga, spend time together and build relationships, it's been huge for us.

"Since we've been back we've not been beaten and I think you can see how quickly we've come together because of that trip.

"Because of the sale of Millenic Alli (to Luton in January), and because of the cup run, we had the opportunity to do it. I thank the club for backing us, for giving us the funds.

"As a supporter-owned club it's never easy but we managed to do it and the benefits have been huge. There are still plenty of points to play for and we have to keep building on this."

Exeter recovered a half-time deficit to take a point from their trip to New York Stadium, with defender Alex Hartridge – who returned to the club on loan from Wycombe in January – scoring his first Football League goal.

"We didn't want him to leave the club, he wanted to go on to something different and it's not quite worked out," added Caldwell.

"We felt in January that we needed someone not only who we knew, but who knew us as well. I thought it took [him] maybe three or four games to get up to speed but now him, Angus (MacDonald) and Ed Turns have been defending magnificently."