"It was closer than the score suggests" says Man of the Match Midfielder
Oxford United went out of the EFL Cup last night but only after putting up a battling display against Brighton. 1-0 down inside 66 seconds United fought back and were level through Wes Thomas before three goals in the last 15 minutes sent the Seagulls through, with Dan Crowley’s late goal a consolation for United in the 4-2 defeat.
“It was a lot closer than the score might suggest” midfielder Joe Rothwell told Yellow Player HD after the game. “We were disappointed to concede the early goal because it made our job harder, but we got it back to 1-1 and I thought we dominated periods of the game. They nicked it on the counter attack to make it 2-1 but even then the reaction was good- Lunny hit the bar with what would have been a wonder goal, Ruffs nearly scored so we were close.
“They caught us on the counter again. With the quality in their team they can do that, but we can only take positives out of the game and you can’t be too disheartened by that performance.
“Nobody’s head dropped when we conceded. We stayed strong- that’s what we do here. The reaction again was different class and we got level and managed to build a game where we kept the ball well. The fact we moved it around and created chances tells you plenty about this group of players.”
The former Man United youngster deservedly won the Man of the Match award last night and is hoping that his performance pushes him to the front of Michael Appleton’s mind as the U’s prepare for the trip to Sheffield United on Saturday.
“It’s been a little bit frustrating so far “ he said “ but thankfully the Gaffer trusted me tonight and I hope I’ve planted a little seed in his head for the team on Saturday up at Sheffield. I would never expect to just walk into any team so I have just been working hard day in day out in training and showing what I can do.”
See the full interview plus the thoughts of Michael Appleton and extended highlights in Yellow Player HD