Pressure builds on Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell

A brutal 2-6 home defeat to Leyton Orient made it seven games without a league victory for Exeter City and the heat is turning up on boss Gary Caldwell, who is promising recruitment activity before the transfer window closes on Monday, February 3.

The Grecians have now slipped to 17th in Sky Bet League One and the humbling loss to promotion-chasing Orient was a game effectively over inside 14 minutes.

Azeem Abdulai struck a hat-trick for the Londoners, including two goals in the opening seven minutes, and when Sean Clare curled a delightful finish into the top corner to make it 3-0 before the quarter-hour, City fans understandably voiced their disapproval.

It got worse on 34 minutes, Orient pouncing on a sloppy Exeter set-piece to cut through the home side, Dilan Markanday finishing off a horrible first half at St James Park.

The Grecians came out with a point to prove after the break and there was some hope when in-form Millenic Alli reduced the arears to 2-4 with a quickfire brace, but Abdulai exposed defensive frailties once again to complete his treble, and there was time for Jamie Donley to twist the knife even further with a fabulous volley.

“I apologise to the supporters,” said Caldwell. “I take responsibility for the result and I need to do better to bring reinforcements into the team before next Monday. We have got 18 big games to go.

"We have tried a different system, but systems don't matter if you don't compete. If you don't do that, you never get a foothold in the game and now we have to find a system with the group we have before we hopefully bring in players before the weekend."