Oxford United picked up one of their best results of the season by beating Portsmouth 2-1 at Grenoble Road on Saturday with Head Coach Karl Robinson quick to praise his players and the hard work that went in to those three points.
“We worked very hard and I think our shape was a lot better; we didn’t look as open” he told iFollow. “I have always said about this team that fatigue had a big influence in some games. But you can see how we want to play and I expect high energy levels
“We still need a striker. There were times late on where we could have done with a quick striker to spin in behind their defence and put the game to bed. But today we had the options of bringing on an Algerian international and one of the best wingers in the league. Plus I had Sykesy and Samir Carruthers on the bench and that meant I had options and was able to be a manager.
“I want to thank the fans. There was a bit of negativity in recent weeks but the second half at Fleetwood and then the win today mean four points from two tricky matches. And now we get ourselves ready for another big game on Tuesday at Bury and then Barnsley next week.
“The players were wound up before the game because Portsmouth decided to put out a tweet goading us, and I think that’s not right. The players certainly weren't happy about it before the game.
“That’s not come from any of the football people though, Kenny is one of the Managers in the league I have the most respect for and is a fantastic manager and his assistant is one of my best friends. Hopefully they can do a job for us now and go and beat some of the teams around us, and we can help them by beating Barnsley next week and Sunderland soon after. They all have to come here and certainly based on today not too many teams are going to fancy doing that. They will have seen today that this is a difficult place to come when Oxford United have their players available.”
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