If there was one big positive to come out of last night's 4-2 defeat at Accrington Stanley it was a very assured performance from Mark Sykes on his full debut for Oxford United.
The Northern Irish midfielder capped a very impressive first game with an assist for Luke Garbutt’s goal for the U’s and is now hoping for more chances to show what he can do as United fight against relegation.
“We showed spirit and at 2-1 we had chances and were on top but just weren’t clinical enough” he told iFollow after the game. “I think that might be the story of the season so far. We need to start scoring goals again and I would like to try and help with that if I am in the team more often.”
Sykes caught the eye, looking comfortable on the ball and creative in the final third, but his own personal performance couldn’t mask the disappointment of defeat.
“No, it’s no consolation at all” he said. “It’s a results business we’re in and we didn’t do well tonight and got beaten 4-2. I was obviously delighted when Karl told me I was in the team and I wanted to show a lot of people what I can do tonight; hopefully I did that, but it definitely doesn’t make up for losing the match.”
United must regroup quickly as they prepare for another trip north to Blackpool on Saturday.
“Absolutely” Sykes agreed. “Blackpool are doing quite well at the moment; I know a couple of the lads up there and they are a decent side, but we know what we have to do and hopefully we can go and get the three points up there because we desperately need them right now.”
See the full interview, highlights, and the thoughts of Karl Robinson, all in iFollow right now.