Exeter boss Gary Caldwell knows it will be difficult to play their usual game against Wanderers this weekend - but challenged his players to be “brave” in their approach.

The Grecians kicked off the season with a win against Rotherham but have since suffered defeats against Northampton and Peterborough.

“It will be a really difficult game,” Caldwell told the club channels. “They are a team who, for me, should have gone up last season.

“They were, in my opinion, the best team in the league but for whatever reason didn’t get promotion, they obviously failed in the play-off final.

“But they are still a fantastic team, they have probably got even better in terms of their ball possession.

“They are slightly different in how they set up this year, instead of two number nines it is two 10s and a nine.

“We have to be ready for a really difficult game. We have to play with personality and try to dominate the ball, but we are doing it against a team who have predominantly been the best possession team in the league, I think they are second behind Birmingham at the moment.

“We have to be very brave in how we play with the ball and out of possession, we have to be secure, understand how we are going to press and make sure we restrict them to very little.”

More than 20,000 supporters will be in attendance at the Toughsheet Community Stadium as Wanderers hold their first Community Day of the season.

When asked if Exeter can use the big crowd to their advantage, Caldwell replied: “I think that is always the case away from home, not just at Bolton.

“I think it is important we play with personality, belief and control and when you do that, the home fans get annoyed and can sometimes get on the home team’s back.

“It is always important we try to do that, but we know we are coming up against one of the best possession teams in the league.

“It is not only how we play in possession but out of possession, we have to be as good as we have been this season.”

The 42-year-old also shared an update on the injury front, with several players still unavailable.

“Caleb (Watts) is back training but probably won’t feature on Saturday,” he explained. “Vinnie’s (Harper) hamstring is worse than we first feared so he will be out for a number of weeks.

“Demetri (Mitchell) is still feeling a calf problem which we will investigate further. Because of the long-term nature of his injury, he will still be a number of weeks.

“Sonny Cox is back training and we will assess him to see if he can be available for some part on Saturday. Jay Bird is back training but he will be a number of weeks away because of his lack of matches.”