Oxford United look to swap Checkatrade Trophy progress for league points when they take on Doncaster Rovers at home on Saturday.
A dramatic 2-1 win at Priestfield on Tuesday night means that United are gathering pace once more with just one defeat in four games as they prepare for a busy Christmas period.
“It was not an easy place to go on Tuesday” Pep Clotet told iFollow. “Both sides fielded strong sides out of respect for the competition and it was a good game. In the end we got a result thanks to our intensity, good play and particularly our hard work so that’s a positive to take forward into the weekend.”
United now face Doncaster at Grenoble Road and Pep believes that the emphasis slightly changes when you are the home side rather than away in League 1:
“That’s a trend across this league. When you play at home, visiting teams set up to leave no gaps and work hard to make tight games where they work hard at first to keep the point they started with, then see if they can make it three. You have to have a lot of concentration to make sure you don’t make mistakes and give them what they are looking for. That’s happening to every team in this league and it is motivation for us to find the right way to cut out our own mistakes and find a way to make a difference and pick up more points at home.
“We keep working and have the teamwork and intensity and have to add even more to our game because we know the challenge is tougher at home than when we play away.”
“It is a really good group and they have bonded very well and fight hard for each other. They want to show everyone how good they are as players and as a team. At the same time they know there are things we have to do better and we are trying to improve as quickly as possible, especially with so many games coming up.
“We will modify things a little in terms of recovery over the next few weeks and we have been adapting and thinking about it a lot. Every point you pick up right now is like double because there are so many games and things change so quickly. Get points between now and the end of December and they will be very valuable for the rest of the season.”
See the full interview in iFollow