The bosses of both sides know a thing or two about derby matches.
Exeter’s manager Gary Caldwell was Celtic captain and led his side out against Rangers in one of the fiercest derbies in world football.
Meanwhile Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley – a former Manchester United, Everton and Watford player – has been involved in big games against Manchester City, Liverpool and Luton.
“Until you’re in a derby you don’t really know what it’s like, so I don’t think it’d be fair for me to compare it to any other derbies I’ve been involved in because each one has its own little uniqueness about it,” says Cleverley, who took over at Argyle in the summer following their relegation back to League One.
“Only once in my 18 years have I won an away derby,” he added, having had a tour of the city he now calls home this week to ensure it really hits home what the game means to the people who idolise his players.
“What I would say is it’s one of the best feelings I’ve had – if you said to me what are my top three days, one of them was winning at [Manchester City’s] Etihad with Manchester United.
“It’s why we’re in this industry, why I’m on this side of the fence, because I want to be involved in days like this and prepare a team to go and win at places like this.”
For Caldwell, it will be his third Devon derby as manager – his first was in just his second game in charge on Halloween in 2022 when Argyle came back to win 4-2 before a 1-0 loss at home the following spring as Plymouth won the League One title.
“I’ve not won one yet. I need to win one and hopefully that comes on Thursday night,” says Caldwell.
“The Old Firm [Celtic and Rangers] for me had another level to it. It was ferocious, they were incredible games to be a part of.
“But the experience of them and the lessons I’ve learned about how you prepare, about how you approach them, how you behave within the game and what’s needed to win and lose the games.
“We’ve all won derbies and lost derbies and we know the kind of aftermath and the implications of that, but those games were definitely games where you need to control emotion, you need to be clear on what you need to do to win the game, but you also need to bring emotion.
“You need to play with a different fire because supporters, it’s for them, it’s their game, it’s for the city and it’s for their bragging rights so it’s a game like no other in the sense of you are playing for the supporters and what it means to them.”
