Caldwell calls on Exeter to give Stansfield warm welcome

Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell hopes Jay Stansfield will get the welcome he deserves when he returns to St James Park on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old came up through Exeter's ranks before leaving for Fulham and then joining Birmingham City for a reported £15m in the summer.

He spent the 2022-23 season on loan at Exeter where he scored nine goals in 39 games, including a hat-trick in his final appearance in a 3-2 win over Morecambe.

His father Adam was also revered as a striker at the club before his death from cancer aged 31 in 2010.

"What they've done, his dad and him, and the time I spent with Stanno here, was amazing," Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon ahead of the Blues' visit.

"I think his hat-trick will never be forgotten against Morecambe, so I'm sure the players and the supporters will welcome him back.

"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 they kick the life out of him and stop him from doing what Stanno does," Caldwell added jokingly.

Exeter will have made well over £1m in sell-on fees from Stansfield's move to Birmingham City in the summer, with his deal being a record for a third-tier side.

He has repaid that faith so far, scoring six times in nine League One appearances as Blues sit fourth in the table with games in hand on the sides above them.

Caldwell says he has fond memories of Stansfield, who was at the club when he took over from Matt Taylor as City manager in October 2022.

"He 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 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.

"But he was one of those players that when you look at them and work with them, you know he is going to be a player.

"It's not down to the coaches he works with, it's his drive and determination that will make him a player and you could see that from the very first day working with him.

"It was a pleasure to be his coach for the time that I had and he is somebody that I can always look up and hope that he does well - just not on Tuesday night."