Oxford United trained at their new training facilty for the first time today as they look to kick start their season with a home win against Burton Albion on Saturday.
The U’s worked hard on the pitches at their new base on Horspath Road, following up some straight talking after losing at home to Accrington on Tuesday night.
“It’s great to be able to train at home and that will help” Manager Karl Robinson told iFollow. “We had a good day yesterday, a few heart to hearts and home truths. Nothing damning because it’s not as though they aren’t giving me everything, but the players are just looking a bit nervous and a bit fragile. We just tried to be honest and get everything out in the open and the players stood up to be counted yesterday and I was really proud of them all.
“I know there have been times in my career when I knew the dressing room wasn’t with me, but here you can talk to any player and they will stand together and say how hard we work, how together they are and how much they want to be successful as a group. So we are in a good place and we know the results need to turn.
“We are going to need the fans and so it’s a bit of a rallying cry from me. There was some negativity which boiled over on Tuesday but I understand that. It’s passion and that’s why I do this job. Passion should be a driver. Let’s stick together during games and if we make a mistake, concede a goal or whatever then raise our game. It doesn’t matter if it’s me, my staff, any player or a fan. We just need each other and that’s really important.
“Why did I sign a two and a half year deal here? Because I knew this was going to take time, but right now we really need to drive this forward and we can’t do that on our own. We need the fans.
“The expectation levels were so high and the excitement was huge at the start of the season and that drives players on. Now after the way things have gone if a player makes a mistake or things go against us people can start waiting for an error and all of a sudden that changes the mentality of a player. It shouldn’t but it does. The fans here are educated and supportive and they get that, but we just need each other. It’s going to be a difficult week but we have to look at starting a winning run, and to make that happen we need everyone.”
See the whole interview in iFollow.