Exeter boss Caldwell laments 'really soft' Woods red

Ryan Woods (right) was sent off shortly before half-time

Exeter City boss Gary Caldwell says he was unhappy with the decision to send off Ryan Woods in their 2-1 win at Northampton Town.

The midfielder was red-carded shortly before half-time following a coming together with Jon Guthrie.

Despite being a man down, Exeter managed to secure a sixth win in nine unbeaten matches to move up to 12th in League One.

"I think it's really soft in terms or how easily a 6ft 4in centre-half goes down when Woods is not the biggest," Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon.

"They come chest to chest and he dropped like a ton of bricks.

"I think he knows what he's doing, but for me it's poor that he's trying to get another player sent off.

"The ref made that call, I thought the ref made a lot of poor calls today that we have to live with and we have to find a way to get beyond that as well."

Having been on a 13-game winless run in the league between mid-September and Boxing Day, Exeter have become one of League One's in-form sides.

They have won 10 of their last 18 games and their victory at Northampton was City's 10th away from home this season - a record in the third tier for the Grecians.

"The players have been brilliant all season," Caldwell added. "They've got better at taking on information and playing in a way that they understand, a way that they know can win them football matches and I thought they were brilliant at doing that.

"We adjusted twice in the second half. We went 4-3-2 early in the second half, then we had to change later on because of fatigue and the different personnel that were coming on and go to a 4-4-1.

"Every time the players understood the process of why we do it and they carried that brilliantly and deserved to win with the effort that they put into the game."