Oxford United Head Coach Karl Robinson wrote the following notes for the Wycombe Wanderers programme:
Welcome back everyone and a warm welcome to everyone who has made the short trip down the M40 from Wycombe. Gareth Ainsworth has done a terrific job at Adams Park and it’s yet another game where we are playing against a team near us in the league table.
That League One table is ridiculous this season and you could stare at it for hours looking at all the possibilities. I don’t think that does anyone any good though: just do your job right, focus on what you can influence yourselves and the rest will take care of itself. We have been doing exactly that for a few weeks now and four wins and a draw from the last six games has been a great effort from the lads. I’m still annoyed that we lost the other game away at Gillingham, by the way!
The last home game ended in a bizarre fashion with ‘that’ goal from Jamie Mackie and total confusion all around the stadium. Now, a couple of weeks on, it is much, much simpler: the goal was legal and should have stood and the better side won the match. I thought we were excellent and had 23 shots at goal to Bradford’s three. We could have been more clinical and taken our chances, but in the end we got our reward and moved up the table a little.
Then last week at Coventry we carried that on with another strong performance and a fantastic win in front of over 2,000 away fans. Simon Eastwood was outstanding and made two or three first-class saves but everyone played well; I thought Ahmed Kashi and Cameron Brannagan were magnificent in midfield and the three subs that came on also played their part. Jerome Sinclair stretched the game late on and James Henry and John Mousinho helped settle everyone down and make sure we won the game.
The atmosphere was brilliant and I’d like to single out Kath Faulkner for organising the Family Away Day. Things like that mean a lot. A few days before that we had Joey Beauchamp, James Constable and Rosie come along to join training, and I know that I am being interviewed by a young fan today for the #OX4Life Takeover. It just feels as though we are finally seeing the first signs of everything coming together across the club and I think that is genuinely exciting for the future.
But don’t get carried away yet. If you want a reality check then go and stare at that league table again! We are playing well and we are getting results but we haven’t achieved anything yet. We are nowhere near where we wanted to be this season and we need to recognise that we are still in danger and have to keep fighting for everything. Today will be a tough test but stick with us, cheer us on and let’s see if we can leave the ground smiling again.
Karl
You can read the full programme online at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc.