Liam Manning takes charge of Oxford United for the first time as they head for Morecambe on Saturday.
It has been a busy first week for United’s new Head Coach but he is relishing the challenge so far.
“I have really enjoyed it” he told iFollow today. “It has been full-on as we expected and we have had to fast track some of the relationships and culture that we want here along with the key messages about how we want to play and the bits we want to tweak. The lads have really responded and we have had some really good meetings as well as training sessions.
“Once you get in and see how players respond and interact then you get a different perspective but I think a lot of those things and a lot of the qualities are aligned with what we expected coming in. Everybody has a chance for Saturday. Naturally we have seen more of some players before we came in but ultimately it’s who is going to help us win.”
United will however be without the experience of Billy Bodin and James Henry
“Billy had a setback in training so he won’t be involved” Liam confirmed. “That’s a shame because we know the quality he has. James Henry will be out as well with a hamstring problem. We don't know the extent of that yet but it’s a blow because I thought his dead ball delivery was excellent on Saturday and he was a big influence on the game.
“But we will go up to Morecambe and I am sure the fans will be right behind us. I have had a fantastic welcome and now we have to get the fans off their seats and give them something to cheer about, starting on Saturday.”
See the full interview in iFollow