A goal from Billy Bodin against his former club set Oxford United on their way to a 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers on Saturday that briefly lifted them top of the table.
Portsmouth’s win later in the day pushed United back to second but they now have some breathing space ahead of the team in third and as Bodin told iFollow afterwards, the win was all that mattered after a tense finale for the nine-man U’s.
“The first 25 minutes was how we wanted to dominate the game and then the goal came and I think things swung a little bit” he said. “We changed shape and although it got a little bit tense at the end ultimately we got the three points.
“I didn’t celebrate my goal because Rovers are a club that put a lot of trust in me at a time in my career when I was without a club. They helped me out massively so I said before that if I scored then I wouldn’t celebrate. I got a bit of stick from the lads for that but I always said I wouldn’t.
“Rovers gave us a lot of problems and it’s strange to see them where they are in the table because they are a decent side. They want to turn it into a fight and a scrap at times but I thought we dealt with that well. The two sendings off didn’t help at the end but the three points was the most important thing.
“We could sense the tension in the crowd and it was the same on the bench! But this season it feels like whenever we have come up against things like that or had a funny five minutes I have always had faith in the back four and the rest of the lads to help them out and not concede. That trust that everyone has in each other is massive for us.
“It was a good week and we are in a good place in the table. Now we have to keep grinding out the wins and whether that’s by good performances or bad, as long as we keep picking up three points that’s all that matters some time.”
See the full interview and extended highlights in iFollow