It’s been three weeks now since Oxford United’s usual routine was interrupted and we thought we’d end the week with a catch-up with Head Coach Karl Robinson.
“It has been tough for the whole country this week” he told us. “The number of deaths rise all the time and all our thoughts are with the NHS and the people who are working through this to keep the country going. I can’t say enough times what a great job they are doing and they have all our love and respect.
“It’s been difficult for us as a club, clearly, but we are continuing to adjust and find ways of working. We are close as a group anyway so we stay in touch with each other all the time and spirits are still good among the group.
"We have still been holding daily training sessions on Zoom but have changed the emphasis a little this week, eased up on a few things we were doing in the first couple of weeks. There is still plenty of work but the focus is on core and injury prevention now- things like hamstring and groin muscles. We can build the wider fitness up again once we have a start date in mind. It will be like a pre-season.
“At the moment we don’t know when that might happen but we are in touch with all the relevant people and will be guided by them on when it is safe to go back.
"It’s the daily interaction at the training ground that I am missing: I’ve said before that the atmosphere there is fantastic every day and we all look forward to going in to work. The other change is that our week always built to matchday so it is strange to be heading into a third weekend without a game. But right now football can wait. It’s much more important for everyone to keep in touch, stay home and listen to the advice, and stay safe.”