Jay Stansfield set to make emotional return to St James Park against Exeter City

JAY Stansfield will make an emotional return to St James Park with his Birmingham City team tomorrow night but Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell is in no mood to do him any favours.

The 22-year-old came through the Academy at St James Park before joining Fulham, who he then left for St Andrews in a League One record £15 million-plus deal in the summer.

Stanno enjoyed a sentimental return to Exeter on a season-long loan from Fulham in the 2022-23 season, scoring nine goals for the club, and signed off with a stunning hat-trick in the season-ending 3-2 win over Morecambe at St James Park.

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But while he will always remain a favourite son of the Grecians, City boss Caldwell says there will be no time for sentiment when the two teams clash at a sold-out SJP.

“I think, not just him, but the family are fantastic people of this football club, what they’ve done, his dad (Adam) and him,” Caldwell said. “The time I spent with Stanno here was amazing and I think his hat-trick will never be forgotten against Morecambe.

“I’m sure the players, the supporters will welcome him back, as will Luke (Harris), because he was a big player for us last season, but Stanno, obviously with all the connections he’s got, it’s important we show him what he means to this football club, and then for 100 minutes, I hope we kick the life out of him and stop him from doing what Stanno does!

“I’m sure I’ll get one of his cuddles, his famous cuddles are incredible. It’ll be good to meet up with him but, during the game, it’s business and we have to make sure he doesn’t do what he’s done for us so many times.

“He was incredible to manage. He just came in every day trying to get better, wanted to be a player, had a hunger to stay out on the pitch after training. He went through a really difficult run here where he didn’t score for 22 games as a young player and I think we managed him well in that period. We took him out of the team at times, we played him wide, we played him through the middle and we helped with his development.

“He is a player that when you look at them and work with them you know he’s going to be a player. It’s not down to the coaches he works with, it’s his drive and his determination that’s going to make him a player and you could see that from the very first day working with him.