Oxford United boss looks ahead to Saturday
Oxford United kick off their new season at home to Crawley Town on Saturday with Head Coach Michael Appleton looking for his new-look side to start in style.
“I think the last couple of weeks have been really good and the performance they put in last week against Coventry showed that they are more than ready to kick on this weekend” he told Yellow Player.
The U’s come up against a Crawley side recently relegated from League One and looking to bounce back at the first attempt.
“Crawley have a new Manager in place who has brought in a few new faces but Mark Yates has done very well at Cheltenham in the past and I’m sure his side will be difficult to beat” Michael warned.
United look sharp, physically and mentally, and Michael has talked long and hard to them about taking responsibility for what happens over the coming months.
“I think everyone should be made accountable, so long as it’s a healthy accountability and not a blame culture- we’re not doing that by any stretch of the imagination- but if we make mistakes then people have to be honest about it. We have created a culture where people take responsibility and the players have all bought into that so win lose or draw, we do it together this season.”
United have a full squad to choose from with Ryan Taylor and Liam Sercombe both available after slight knocks in the final pre-season game against Coventry last weekend.
“They both trained in Tuesday so there should be no issues with them” Michael said. “We have a small squad but they are all pushing for places so we can deal with things like that anyway. I think everyone in the team, everyone in the squad, is pumped up for Saturday and it’s just a case of having to put the reins on and making sure we are right for three o’clock on Saturday now.”
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