Oxford United take on Bradford City away and then MK Dons at home this weekend as the season reaches half way in Sky Bet League 1.
Manager Pep Clotet has been talking to iFollow about the season so far and was in a positive mood this morning when asked how he assessed the first half of the season.
“I assess it with a lot of optimism” he said. “This team got together to work in the summer with a lot of new faces and we have worked very hard to compete in places we struggled before, and we have managed to do that with some degree of success. Like any team we have suffered some blows against us, like the one on Saturday, and we have had some injuries from important players. But despite those things I see a team that keeps coming back and keeps competing and never, despite the blows, loses faith in themselves or their character. It is becoming a very resilient team and that’s what makes me optimistic for the second half of the season.
“I am happy working with players who have come through this half of the season and I am happy to be with a club where most fans understand our situation. We have never uttered one word of an excuse and I take my hat off to the players because they have been through some really tough moments but despite that we are consolidating this club in League 1 in the second season, competing against teams who have a degree of success and who have been in play-offs to play in the Championship.
“Bradford are one of those sides and they have been working and competing together for a few seasons now. You see that all of the mechanisms and co-ordination are there. They have had a couple of bad results recently but they showed against us earlier in the season that they are a really good side but we competed against them and will do so again on Saturday.”
See the full interview plus a chat with Joe Rothwell in iFollow now.