Caldwell ready to roll with punches of new season

Exeter City boss Gary Caldwell is heading into his fourth season at St James Park

Gary Caldwell says his side are ready for the scrap of a League One campaign which is sure to deliver its fair share of "punches in the face".

Exeter City's manager put the finishing touches to a pre-season with a 1-1 draw against National League South side Torquay United on Friday followed less than 18 hours later by a 1-0 win over Championship Swansea.

And Caldwell expects similar ups and downs when their third tier campaign gets underway away against newly-promoted Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

"We feel like we are ready to start the season. But as everyone knows you ain't ready until you get punched in the face," Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon.

"We know at League One level we are going to get a lot of punches in the face as a group and as a club we have to be ready to stand up to that and be ready to go through the rigours of a 10 month season."

Caldwell has led the Grecians to 14th, 13th and 16th place in League One in his three seasons in charge but believes his side can cabove that level this season.

"We do look like a team, especially in transition both defence and attacking, who are much better than we've been in previous years which is a big aspect of League One," he said.

"Long may that continue but we will only find that out when the real games start and that's in a week's time."