Oxford United head for Walsall on Saturday with Karl Robinson asking his players to keep their excellent form going until the end of the season.
A win over Wycombe last weekend lifted the U’s in to the top half of the League 1 table but Karl was wary when asked whether one more win would be enough to guarantee safety for his side.
“We just want to win as many as we can” he told iFollow. “We have been on a fantastic run and are one of the form teams in the league and we just want to carry that on for as long as we can. Since Simon Eastwood came back after injury that form has been pretty consistent and it just proves what we said all along, that once we have all our players fit we are as good as anyone in the league, and our stats prove that.”
It’s not a good idea to leave United games early: Josh Ruffels’ 94th minute winner against Wycombe just the latest last gasp winner for the U’s this season. Karl believes that is down to both physical and mental strength from his players.
“It has been an interesting end to the last two home games! But the players’ desire appetite to stick it out right to the end has been excellent.
That’s a mental strength that you have to have as well as a physical thing. Our players look extremely fit right now and that is a big positive going forward. Scott Daly was really excellent as our strength and conditioning coach and is still a friend of ours, but his career path took him a different way after he built the foundations and then Chris Short has come in and brought a few different ideas to add to it as well. He is someone I have total respect for, one of the best I have worked with, and I think the players feel the same way.”
See the full interview in iFollow.