success over Crawley Town and penalty-shootout beating of Stevenage were hardly inspiring results from Exeter in the first two rounds of this year’s EFL Cup
, but not even top-tier opposition in Luton Town – who played with an extra man for the final few moments – could spoil the St James Park parade in the last 32.
Indeed, Demetri Mitchell’s 83rd-minute effort was sufficient to dump the Hatters out of the tournament and propel Exeter into the fourth
round for only the second time in their history, having also got as far in 1989-90 before losing a two-legged tie with Sunderland.
However, that memorable beating of the Hatters represents Exeter’s most recent victory in any competition, as Gary Caldwell’s men
embarked on a miserable six-game losing streak in the wake of that giant killing, which was only ended in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Lincoln City.
As such, the Grecians are languishing in 17th place in the League One table heading into the winter months, meaning that Exeter enter the
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fourth round as the second lowest-ranked team left gunning for glory, only above League Two promotion-chasers Mansfield Town in the pyramid.
Ryan Trevitt’s equalising header versus Lincoln did at least see Lincoln snap their four-game sequence without a goal, but the Grecians have
failed to net more than once in a competitive fixture since sinking Reading 2-1 in August, only breaching the opposition seven times in their subsequent 14 games.
