EXETER City manager Gary Caldwell has urged his players to use the frustration of their defeat at Wycombe Wanderers on New Year’s Day to motivate them for today’s League One clash with Bolton Wanderers.

City looked on course for a well-deserved point at Adams Park until referee Scott Simpson awarded a contentious penalty deep into stoppage time. It was converted by Wycombe loanee Aaron Morley – who has since been recalled by his parent club Bolton and could feature against the Grecians again today – leaving City pretty upset and angry at full-time.

Simpson’s decision was one of several dubious decisions made throughout the course of the game – he also disallowed a perfectly legitimate gal by Ilmari Niskanen – which ultimately led to Caldwell being sent off after the awarding of the spot kick. However, defeat should not detract from what was a very good performance from the Grecians and one that Caldwell wants to see repeated today.

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“It is not an easy game and the frustration at the result at Wycombe is hopefully a real motivation for us, but the performance levels, our seven points over Christmas was excellent and we have to go into the Bolton game with real confidence and real belief,” he said.

“We are a very dangerous team when we know what we are, who we are and how we are going to win football matches, so we recover and start preparation today (Thursday) and then going into tomorrow with the players, everyone has to be ready for another really difficult match, but be clear on how we are going to win that football match because so many things we did at Wycombe were very good.

“Little details we can always get better at, we can always brush up in certain areas. That is always our philosophy as a coaching staff, win, lose or draw, we are trying to make players and the team better.

“Bolton haven’t had the season they probably expected, or would have liked. They have changed a little bit this year and not as possession-based as they were last year, they are a bit more direct, so we have to be aware of that.

“We will have a look at Bolton and get real clarity on what we need to do to win the game and we will work on that with the players tomorrow.”

Seven points from 12 available is a good return, but the ruthless run of games continues with the Bolton game today Exeter ’s fourth since the 2-1 win at Burton Albion on December 21. The Bolton game is also the second in an eight-game month which is sure to test the endurance of the players and the strength in depth of Caldwell’s squad.

“Everyone has to be ready again, it is a quick turnaround, but we spoke about fatigue and it is not something that we want to think about,” Caldwell said. “I keep saying to the players it is a state of mind, you have to focus your mind and fatigue is something that you have to just get out of your mind and be ready for the game come 3pm on Saturday.

“It’s tough for the players, but we talk about it and have a thing called a ‘Vegas mentality.’ I said to the players a while ago when you are in a Vegas nightclub at four in the morning, you are never tired! So that’s a state of mind and we try to get that into the players to say that it’s up to the individual to recover in the right way, to get his mentality right for 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and say: ‘I am ready to play.’

“You are never going to be 100 per-cent because sport science will tell you the recovery time, the food that you need to eat and energy you need to get back in, it’s very near impossible.

“For me, the big aspect of that is your mentality and how you prepare and get ready for the game and I think we’ve been good at that, although the squad is stretched in terms of numbers, which has meant we have had to rotate in certain games.”

City have Pierce Sweeney, Ed James, Reece Cole, Kevin McDonald, Mustapha Carayol, Jack Aitchison, Yanic Wildschut and Sonny Cox all injured right now, but one positive at Wycombe was the return from injury of central defender Johnly Yfeko.

Caleb Watts also caught the eye and with him, McDonald and Carayol all out of contract this month, Caldwell must make a decision on their futures, although Watts is certainly one he wants to keep in Devon.

“Definitely and we are in talks,” Caldwell said. “I think he has played his best football in the last 8-10 games and I think he has worked extremely hard and the medical team have done a great job with him.

“We are really happy and I think he is better inside the pitch, he has matured as a player and I think he has been excellent, so he is someone we are talking to and want to keep at the club.”