Striker keen to make good first impression
Saturday will see several new faces make their first appearance in an Oxford United shirt as the U’s make the short trip to Didcot Town to kick off pre-season. Sam Slocombe, Liam Sercombe and Ryan Taylor all stand by for debuts and former Portsmouth striker Taylor is looking to make a good first impression after joining earlier in the summer.
“It’s been hard work this week” he told Yellow Player HD “but the two day camp at RAF Benson where we were camping out and getting up at 5am to start training was the hardest part so far. It was great for team bonding and we enjoyed it, and now hopefully we can get off to a good start in pre-season as well this Saturday.”
Taylor has settled quickly with the U’s and has high hopes for the season ahead:
“There are four or five new players and you don’t know everyone and what their characters are, so the last couple of weeks have been great for that. Now it’s time to play matches. I don’t think it matters who you are playing or what division they are; as a striker I want to get off to a good start and you want to score in every game you play so it’s no different on Saturday.
“I’m looking forward to it as I’m sure all of the players are. Training has looked sharp and I’m sure we will have a good chance this year based on what I have seen so far.”
The U’s take on the Railwaymen in their first game and whatever happens on Saturday it is all about building to the big kick-off when United welcome Crawley Town to the Kassam Stadium in their opening Sky Bet League 2 game
“It’s all about a balance between working really hard, staying fit and being at a peak when the games start properly” Ryan said. “You have to work hard but also you have to have a laugh and enjoy what you are doing. I have really enjoyed training so far and now we’ll look to take that into the games coming up.”
See the full interview plus the thoughts of Michael Appleton in Yellow Player HD, where we will have live commentary on every pre-season match.