THE VERDICT

"It will go down to the wire"

Oxford United have a chance to bounce back straight away this Tuesday as they travel to Newport County looking to make amends for a 3-2 home defeat against Luton Town on Saturday. United stay second in the League 2 table but failed to build on a second minute goal from Danny Hylton against the Hatters. Head Coach Michael Appleton told Yellow Player HD afterwards that it is how his players react that is key now:

“We are going to have disappointments, no doubt about that” he said “but it’s how you deal with them.

“I didn’t think we were good enough in defending our own box but also we weren’t clinical enough in theirs. We got in it a lot of times, their keeper made some good saves, but I’d expect him to make those.

“If you concede three at home then you make it really difficult for yourselves to win a game.  For it to happen to us is a bit of a rarity, and not something we want to happen again.”

Defeat allowed the chasing pack to close the gap and with four games to go it is all set for a thrilling end to a long hard season.

“It was never going to be straightforward and it was always going to go down to the wire” Michael said. “I think we all knew that with the way the season has panned out.

“The saving grace for me was that it was game 42 out of 46 and we still have four games to make amends and see the job through now. It’s still in our own hands and we have everything to play for going into another away game at Newport on Tuesday night.”

See the full interviews  plus extended highlights in Yellow Player HD