With Karl Robinson sitting at home awaiting his covid test results last night’s game against Shrewsbury fell on the broad shoulders of Craig Short.
Two second half goals gave the U’s an important three points and, typically, Craig was quick to pass the credit on to those around him:
“It was important to get the win but I thought Saturday’s performance was even better than this evening’s” he told iFollow. “You are always judged on your results and we were disappointed on Saturday but the performance levels were pretty high. Then tonight was just a case of getting through it, especially coming in 0-0 at half time and looking for a step up after the break.
“The key to that was moving the ball that bit quicker. You can do that on a night like tonight with the rain and the nice surface. There was a bit more confidence in the side because I thought we looked quite nervous in the first half for some reason.
“Sykesy got his goal and we have been working with our wide players and talking about little targets in terms of goals and assists. Mark works really hard and when he switched to the left it means he can come inside and shoot or cross; he did say it was a cross for Matty though! But those are always very difficult for keepers to save.
“Preparations weren’t too different to usual. Karl walked down the lane to the training ground and waved me over and said he had tested positive and was doing a PCR. I tested, like we all do and was fine so then we adjusted like we always have done over the last 18 months. We have a very good Head of Medical in Amy Cranston and we follow all the rules and protocols; Karl got straight in his car and went home and we spoke a lot on the phone in the build up to the game. To be fair even when we spend all day together we tend to do that as well!
“He chose the side, he prepped them and you try and keep the plan for the game as simple as possible. We wish him well and he has to do ten days now so we will take the next couple of games for him I would imagine. But that’s fine; we are lucky to have a really good staff here as well as a good set of players.”
See the full interview plus the thoughts of Man of the Match Mark Sykes and extended highlights in iFollow.