Tudur Jones' commitment is there for all to see

Owain Tudur Jones signalled his intention to get back to work as soon as possible after missing City's 4-0 win at Yeovil in midweek. The midfielder was on international duty with Wales in Montenegro, but had to watch the entire 2-1 defeat from the subs' bench.

Owain Tudur Jones signalled his intention to get back to work as soon as possible after missing City's 4-0 win at Yeovil in midweek.

The midfielder was on international duty with Wales in Montenegro, but had to watch the entire 2-1 defeat from the subs' bench.

However, he reported back to the club's base in Exeter at 6am on Thursday and four hours later was back on the training pitch with his City team-mates - 12 hours after the final whistle in Podgorica.

All of City's senior players are in the west country ahead of today's game at Exeter - vying for a place in a squad that has so much to prove after last weekend's opening day debacle against Colchester.

There are just a couple of minor injury concerns for caretaker manager Ian Butterworth, although Matt Gill is expected to win his fitness battle ahead of his first return to Exeter since his departure for Carrow Road in June.

Gill took a kick just below the ankle early in the second half at Yeovil and although he received treatment his attempts to carry on failed and he was replaced.

Left-back Adam Drury suffered a dead leg and a kick on the ankle and was replaced by Simon Lappin with a little over 20 minutes remaining, but both players are likely to figure. Drury trained on Thursday, while Gill rested - desperate to be ready for this afternoon.

With a run of four games in 10 days, Butterworth will also be mindful of the need to rest some players, so Gill may fall victim to circumstances.

If that's the case, it strengthens teenager Tom Adeyemi's claims for a full league debut, with the Carling Cup players clearly in "pole position".

The 17-year-old Academy product did his burgeoning reputation no harm at all on Tuesday, and with question marks over some of his midfield rivals he could become the youngest full league debutant since Kris Renton, who was 16 years and 279 days old when he faced Burnley in April 2007.

Stephen Hughes is another option: he is still building up his match fitness, but did himself no harm with a decent performance when he came on as a sub at Yeovil.

Much will depend on Butterworth's judgment of the players' characters - and how they react not only to last week's thumping, but also to yesterday's decision to sack manager Bryan Gunn.