Exeter City will be relieved to see Ben Purrington bucking Plymouth Argyle trend | OneFootball

Exeter City fans didn't take to Will Aimson with his Plymouth Argyle background a factor but Ben Purrington doesn't look set to suffer the same fate.

Ben Purrington returned to his hometown club in the midst of a crisis last season and he’s found himself in at the deep end once again.

The former Charlton Athletic and Plymouth Argyle defender joined Exeter City from Ross County in January 2024 with the Grecians struggling to stop the rot following four wins in their previous 20 League One matches.

It would only take them another seven to match that total and Purrington went on to be a big part of City’s improvement in the second half of the season.

However, the arrival of Johnly Yfeko on an initial loan from Rangers over the summer put Purrington into deep freeze this season, with the 21-year-old Londoner quickly nailing down his spot on the left-hand side of Gary Caldwell’s back three.

All was rosy in the Grecians camp and Yfeko and Co put in a string of impressive performances at the back that led to six consecutive clean sheets in all competitions at one stage.

But all of a sudden the towering defender missed City’s 2-0 loss away at Huddersfield and news filtered through of a hamstring injury that looks likely to rule him out of action until the start of 2025.

After playing just one full 90 minutes for the first team, away at Walsall in the Carabao Cup, and a handful of minutes off the bench, Purrington was suddenly thrust back into the squad as a replacement for Yfeko.

His return didn’t quite go to plan and the crazy 5-3 FA Cup First Round win over Barnet followed the pointless trip to Huddersfield.

All of a sudden City’s water-tight defence had sprung a serious leak.

Purrington a solid Yfeko alternative

But normal service resumed at the weekend with Caldwell’s crew hanging on for dear life to pick up a big three points at home to Charlton, via a 1-0 win, with the visitors squandering a couple of gold-plated chances late on.

At the end of the day the only statistic that matters is the result and City head into a nightmare run of games where they play all the top six in the next six with a bit of confidence and something to build on.

Purrington’s been decent enough, he’s a solid performer, but he’s had to dive straight back into first-team football after playing just one proper full 90 all through the season until the end of October which is no mean feat.

Another string to his bow is that he kind of goes under the radar, even when on the field, and hardly anyone mentions the fact he used to play for City’s old friends from down the road, Plymouth.

That's not something that can be said for City’s former captain and wildly inconsistent centre back Will Aimson.

He was dealt a bit of a duff hand, with Caldwell taking the captaincy off of the long-serving and much loved Pierce Sweeney and handing it straight to the former Argyle man on arrival – a decision that went down like a lead balloon on the Big Bank and beyond.

Inconsistent Amison unpopular at Exeter

Aimson struggled for consistent form and his ups and downs were mirrored by his team-mates on the pitch.

The centre back eventually left City last summer, heading back up north to join Wigan in a move that angered Caldwell but was party fueled by the unreliable 30-year-old’s bad relationship with the Grecian faithful.

While Caldwell was annoyed when Aimson left, most City fans were pleased to see the back of ‘Agent Aimson’ as some Argyle fans had dubbed him.

Purrington clearly doesn’t quite have those hurdles to overcome, and he’s got a far lower profile than his former team-mate, but City are going to need him over the busy next few weeks into the festive fixtures and beyond.

The fact Purrington was born in Exeter and went to St James Park as a kid has probably helped soothe things over with the City supporters, too.

Either way, there’s none of that Aimson animosity and he’s made a decent start to his season, which effectively began up at Huddersfield.

With Yfeko’s return some way off, Purrington will get a long run in the side and, hopefully, the man who flies under the radar can stick his head above the parapet for the right reasons and give Caldwell a headache when Yfeko's back and firing fit.