United look for Charlton repeat as they take on the Spireites
Oxford United look to continue their excellent form as they head for Chesterfield on Saturday. Another away win, this time at Charlton on Tuesday, kept United moving forwards towards the play-off chasing clubs and Head Coach Michael Appleton believes his side are gathering pace at just the right time.
“We have a bit of momentum and got the basics right on Tuesday” he told Yellow Player HD earlier. “We know we can be miles better from an attacking point of view but we did the ugly side of things really well, competed, won a lot of 50/50 challenges and put our bodies on the line.
“I don’t take a massive interest in the table and other teams’ fixtures just yet while there is a still a long way to go but I think with six to ten games to go if we are in the same position then you have to address it and say you have got a chance; there is no point hiding away from that. But I think we are still six or seven games away from that sort of scenario, and with us still being involved in the Trophy as well it is literally still game by game.”
Michael saw Conor McAleny score on his full debut and Joe Skarz and Liam Sercombe turn in excellent performances on their returns to the side at the Valley and the Head Coach know that he is going to need every single available player to hit the ground running over the next few weeks:
“There will be a lot of chopping and changing between now and the end of the season” he said. “I don’t mean that to try and be called the Tinker Man! I will be doing it for all the right reasons, to make sure we are as prepared as properly for every single game as we can. If people need a bit of time out and start to look a bit leggy then we will make sure they get an opportunity to sit a game out. And when they come back in I am sure they will be firing on all cylinders.
“We are going to need everyone to do that this weekend up at Chesterfield because we know they are going to be motivated. They have 13 or 14 games left which they are saying are all cup finals and looking to make a big thing of. We are mindful of that but I’d like to think that if our mindset is exactly what it was on Tuesday then we hopefully have enough quality to win the game.”
See the full interview plus a great catch up with Wes Thomas as he starts his recovery from injury, all in Yellow Player HD