Manager Pep Clotet was happy with the way his side performed despite the side suffering a 2-0 defeat against Birmingham on Saturday.
The U’s were caught out by two first half goals but there were plenty of encouraging signs, as Pep told iFollow after the game:
“I thought we were punished harshly for two mistakes in the first half which took a little bit of the energy out of the team“ he said “but we kept playing and I think had a really good second half. We had chances in both halves but unfortunately didn’t score the goals and in the end when you are playing a against a Championship side when you do make mistakes they punish you. You just have to stay focussed and play as well as possible, but in the end it’s a good performance and a good learning point for us.”
The U’s now move on to an away game at Leeds United on Saturday, their final game before the season starts at Oldham:
“The fixtures in pre-season have all been Championship sides since Oxford City and we have always performed well, worked hard and played well. I think the team is in good shape and physically the minutes are going in, we just have to keep our identity and then in the league obviously we don’t play Championship sides and all the hard work we have put in over the last few weeks will pay off.”
Saturday’s game gave most United fans their first look at new faces Xemi Fernandez, Dwight Tiendalli and Jon Obika who are all stepping up their training this week and turned in impressive cameos on Saturday.
“I’m happy to see them playing again” Pep said “and to start putting minutes in the locker; the aim remains to have a fully fit squad ready for the first game at Oldham.”