Tisdale full of praise for Exeter

Last updated : 20 August 2010 By BBC Sport

Tisdale told BBC Devon: "I said to the players after Adam's passing that I couldn't think of another club dealing with this situation better than us.

"I think the club has done everything it could do, and I don't think we could have done any better with it."

Tisdale added: "Everyone's got a different opinion on things, and you can't please everyone all of the time. In terms of setting a tone and getting the balance right I think we've done as well as we could do."

The Tiverton-born forward, nicknamed 'Stanno', joined Hereford on a free transfer in 2004 and two years later moved on to Exeter, where he made more than 150 first-team appearances, scoring 39 goals.

Stansfield scored seven goals in 19 appearances for Exeter last season.

Tisdale said: "To manage the situation has been a case of taking it a couple of days at a time, feeling the atmosphere and adjusting accordingly - you take it a day at a time and try to set the right tone.

"None of us have the right answers to all of this, we just have to do what we think is right and respect each other and I think that's what we have done here at Exeter City."

Exeter's League One fixture with Dagenham & Redbridge was postponed last weekend out of respect for Stansfield, meaning this Saturday's visit of Bristol Rovers will be the first competitive game for the Grecians since his passing.

Tisdale said: "It's going to be highly charged on Saturday off the back of a rather surreal week, but I think we have to approach this in the best way possible, do our very best and be respectful of everyone's feelings.

Stansfield signed for the Grecians from Hereford in June 2006"The best way that we can pay tribute to anybody who was part of this team is to perform as a team."

Exeter are going to hold a minute's applause for Stansfield ahead of the match with Rovers.

Having played his whole career in the South West, Stansfield's death has been marked by many clubs across the region.

Bristol Rovers manager Paul Trollope told BBC Radio Bristol: "Football is very regionalised, there are a lot of local players who go between clubs in the South West and Adam was somebody who's done that.

"It's affected the local scene quite hard, and we felt that against Yeovil last week

"It's going to be an emotional afternoon but one that we have to do the job, remain focused and make sure we produce the same sort of level as we did last Saturday."

Source: BBC Sport

Source: BBC Sport