Manager reflects on Accrington draw
United maintained their unbeaten away record but couldn’t find a winning goal at Accrington on Saturday despite an improved second half performance. The U’s created several clear cut chances and home keeper Marcus Bettinelli was Man of the Match, but manager Chris Wilder was a touch disappointed not to have claimed a win that would have lifted United to top of the table.
“We’re disappointed we’ve not got all three points” he told Yellow Player. “I think our second half performance warranted it. The first half didn’t; we didn’t deserve to be ahead at half-time. We needed to lift it and up the levels in every department: where we played, where we chased, where we closed down, everything. We did in the second half, so that was encouraging. We created enough chances to win the game; their keeper has made some spectacular saves in the second half. Maybe with a little bit of luck or a touch more quality in and around the box we’d have gone away with three points. But credit to the opposition; they didn’t play like a team that’s struggling, they played with plenty of spirit and they had a right go and made it difficult, especially in the first half”.
United will wait on the fitness of Johnny Mullins before they take on Exeter City at the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday night. Mullins landed awkwardly just before half time at the4 Crown Ground and United will assess the extent of the injury before selecting a side to take on third place Exeter.
“. I wanted to bring him Ryan Williams on at half-time but we had to have a little look at John [Mullins] and then we didn’t want to risk him any further.. Jonny’s an important player for us and there’s no point in him playing 45 minutes for the sake of him then being out for two weeks. “ Chris said.
Mullins’ replacement Ryan Williams looked full of running and drew praise from the manager as the team lifted their game in that second period.
“Ryan gave us a spark and I thought all the front four upped their game” Chris said. “We passed it better in midfield and the two full-backs joined in which is how we wanted to play. It was a real front-foot second-half performance. We went for the jugular but unfortunately we just didn’t get that break in front of goal.”
United dropped to fourth in the table but welcome the side immediately above them, Exeter City, to the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday evening. A win could lift either side to top of the league so book your place, come along and get behind the U’s.
Call 01865 337533 or visit www.oufctickets.co.uk to book tickets in advance and save time as well as money with cheaper advanced prices.