Garry Monk admits struggling Cambridge are “running out of time” in their battle to beat the drop.
Even a win would not have lifted Monk’s side off the bottom of the League One table, but a 1-0 defeat at home to Exeter ensured they remained well adrift of safety.
Despite taking Nottingham Forest to penalties in the FA Cup on Tuesday, Exeter’s league form had seen them fall down the table, but a Josh Magennis header earned the Grecians a first league victory of 2025.
“It’s a big blow to us, of course it is,” Monk said.
“It was a massively important match. There is enough time, but we’re running out of time. It’s not over till it’s over, football works like that.
“It’s hard in this moment, everyone in that dressing room feels really hugely frustrated, disappointed. In football you have to dust yourselves down, move on, get ready.
“It was a poor match overall. It looked like two teams that are struggling for form and points. In a match like that the key is the first goal.
“We had our opportunities to score a goal or at least hit that target, we didn’t take that and then they get really one opportunity in the second half.
“It’s not even really an opportunity, it’s just really poor defending from us. It’s a simple cross in the box. We don’t defend the situation and find ourself a goal behind.
“We huffed and puffed after that without any real quality and obviously ended up with a really bad result.
Gary Caldwell demanded Exeter’s first league win since Boxing Day set the standard for the remaining months.
“I have to demand more. I have to build on this and try and take our performance levels forward in the coming games,” Caldwell said.
“I felt like (in) the first 20 minutes the game was there for us to really take control.
“Because of the run we’re on, because of the game on Tuesday night, we couldn’t quite do that.
“The way we ground it out, the way we found a way to win after that was really pleasing.
“We said after Tuesday, as much as we were disappointed at losing the game on penalties, the performance, the spirit, togetherness that we showed had to be the foundation. I think we’re carried that on.
“Now we have to build performance levels and the areas we feel we can still improve. That will come as we keep picking up results.
“Positive results build confidence. The players will feel good about themselves, but we’re back into work next week and we build again for a really difficult game at Charlton.”
