EXETER City's position in Coca-Cola League One is precarious, but it has not stopped manager Paul Tisdale from placing his trust in youth.

The team that he has selected for both this month's 1-1 draw with Oldham Athletic and last Saturday's goalless stalemate at Southend United had an average age of just 24, and one of the major benefactors from his decision to go with the kids is James Dunne.

The 20-year-old former Arsenal trainee has formed a formidable midfield partnership with fellow youngster Liam Sercombe, who is still only 19. They are providing the defensive platform to allow the more creative Ryan Harley (an old stager at 25) to express himself, and the shape of the Exeter team has seen a sharp improvement in their performance in recent weeks.

"I've been training well and I like playing with Sercs [Sercombe] in that holding role. Hopefully, we can keep it going, get the wins and hopefully stay up. I think we will, we just have to get the results and beat the people around us as well," Dunne said.

"I thought I played well, there was a lot of running about and trying to get the ball back for the team. I like playing with Liam, we play together for the reserves a lot, and we have been doing really well. Hopefully we can keep it going and stay in there together.

"Me and Liam both like the holding role and it helps Ryan, because it gives him room to go where he wants and play balls. Hopefully we can keep it going."

City are still in the bottom four after the bottom six all drew at the weekend, but Dunne is confident that, if City can get that elusive first win since beating Leeds United on January 16, more will follow.

"When you are down at the bottom, you need to pick up results, and obviously we need to win against teams around us. We played well at Southend, we just didn't get the result that we deserved," he added.

"Things like the offside [Adam Stansfield had a goal harshly ruled out at Southend for offside], sometimes it goes for you, when you are at the top. But, when you are at the bottom, it doesn't seem to go for you.

"We had a lot of good training sessions last week and I think that showed at Southend," he added. "We played really well and everyone has been training well, and it shows out on the pitch that we have had a good week and we want to carry on going into Wednesday. I think, once we pick up a win, I think they will start coming again. Hopefully, we can start that on Wednesday and start getting results."

Dunne himself came close to scoring at Roots Hall with a brilliantly controlled half-volley that looked in all the way. That was until the intervention of Southend goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall, who got the slightest of touches to the ball and diverted it on to the crossbar.

It was from that shot that Stansfield followed up and put the ball in the net, only for the 'goal' to be chalked off. "I don't know how he [Mildenhall] got to that," Dunne said. "It was a great save. I thought it was in, and I don't know how he got across to it. It was a good save, and a good shot as well."

Dunne was also quick to praise Exeter's near 400-strong travelling fans, who made such a great effort to show their support at Roots Hall. They arrived en masse at around 1pm to welcome the team coach, which gave the players a huge lift ahead of kick-off.

"The fans were really good, there were about 200 when we got off the bus," Dunne said. "That helps us as well.

"When we come off the bus and they are cheering, then it helps us. But they have been good all season. It is not like we only had a few that turn up, loads turn up and that is what we need, especially away from home. They can play their part and help us stay up."