Oxford United need just one more point to be safe in League 1 for another season, but Head Coach Karl Robinson won't be letting his players ease up short of the line when they welcome Rochdale on Saturday.
“We ran on Tuesday and there was a massive intensity to it because we are professionals and the season isn’t over yet” he told iFollow today. “We will keep working and have the same intensity on Saturday as we have in all the games recently.
“Defensively we are doing well and you can look back at the clean sheets that we are achieving and we know it’s something we can take tremendous pride in. Faz worked hard on it and then it’s something we’ve tried to carry on as a pair. You need luck, poor finishing and great goalkeeping at times because great defending isn’t always going to get you a clean sheet; if there are great strikers who do something magic then you just have to accept that.
“But if you look at the goals we have conceded then the Wigan one was only really down to an error and there was a worldy from Conor McAleny so we just have to maintain our standards and keep our discipline on Saturday again.”
Visitors Rochdale are fighting for their lives but in Keith Hill they have a Manager who Karl has the utmost respect for:
“Keith’s one of the best Managers in this league I think and the cup success they have had has been incredible, but obviously they were maybe going to pay a toll for that somewhere along the line.
“But he is a dead straight, honest person who I have unbelievable respect for. I know how good their players are going to be on Saturday, regardless of the position they are in. But at three o’clock on Saturday we just have to make sure we are in the best form possible ourselves, fully aware of the job in hand, and that we go out there and perform.”
See the full interview plus the thoughts of Todd Kane in a terrific interview in iFollow where we also have a thought-provoking chat with John Mousinho and an unexpected guest in the Preview Show.
Back the U’s one more time on Saturday. Tickets are available from www.oufctickets.co.uk and 01865 337533