Oxford United's Head Coach, Karl Robinson, wrote the following notes for the Tranmere Rovers match programme:
It has been good to have a free week for a change, after a lot of matches in a very short space of time at the start of the season. It has allowed us to refocus and get one or two players back into contention after knocks and injuries, so we come into today’s game against Tranmere in decent shape, despite defeat at Fleetwood last weekend.
I don’t want to dwell too much on that game because we had been going fairly well and performances had been good. We got through in the Carabao Cup against Millwall, got a first win in the Trophy against Norwich, and had come back to get a point at home to Coventry, so those were all positives; maybe that was why the setback at Fleetwood hurt that little bit more. We did enough to get something out of that match as well, but little things went against us: things we know we have to sharpen up on and things we have been able to work to cut out on the training ground this week.
We don’t offer excuses, we just get on with our work, and it will be good to have Ben Woodburn available again and Mark Sykes also back from international duty. They didn’t get too much game time, but will both have benefitted from linking up with their national sides. It’s slightly too early as I write these notes, but we may have Matty Taylor available as well after injury. We won’t rush him; there is a long way to go and it’s much better to have him back long term than causing more damage by playing before he is ready. Shandon had to be patient but is doing well and with Dan Agyei starting to become more involved and George Thorne not too far behind, it’s just Malachi Napa missing out right now.
Whoever plays, we know the effect that a couple of wins would have. It won’t be easy against a Tranmere side who have enjoyed back-to-back promotions, but it’s time to turn decent performances into points on the board.
Get behind us,
Karl
You can read the full programme online at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc.