Oxford United may have won two games in outstanding style this week but it is how they end the week that matters to boss Karl Robinson as the U’s welcome Gillingham to the Kassam Stadium on Saturday (5.30pm)
“It should be another really good game” he told iFollow. “We have done really well recently and performed well against two teams with different qualities and physicality. Gillingham present another type of challenge and are very good at it, applying a constant wave of pressure. You can’t disrespect that because their results have been very positive. So you just have to set up right, deal with it and be calm in your own game. It’s not all about stopping them though, they have to stop you playing as well, so it should be a good game.
“We have scored a lot of goals and the level of performance has been good. We have looked fresh since we had that little break in midweek games and although Gillingham didn’t have a midweek game and we did we have overcome that hurdle many times this season. There’s another difficult game away on Tuesday, then a home game on Saturday and suddenly there are only going to be two games left.
“We are almost there and we can see the finish line now so we want to hold our form and finish strongly. The players have been incredibly positive and we now have to find a way of trying to win the last five games and see where that takes us.”
It’s not just Karl’s team who have a big game this weekend. Oxford United Women welcome Charlton to Court Place Farm on Sunday in the fourth round of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup.
“That’s part of our philosophy: one club and all of us together” Karl said. “The core message is the unity and connection we all have. The girls teams in the RTC feed in to the Women’s First Team and they are a fantastic example of togetherness and ability.
“They are playing against one of my old clubs, Charlton. They used to train on a Thursday and I’d go and have a chat with them and talk to the Manager. The same thing happens here now- the Women trained here last Thursday ahead of their Cup game and I went over and talked to Liam and Kath and Lauren and offered them the First Team pitch to train on because it was such a big game for them.
“I wish them well on Sunday. I’m not sure what the restrictions are but I’d love to go along and support them if I can. It’s going to be a tough game against a side from a higher division but they have done brilliantly to get this far and whatever happens they should be proud of the way they have done things in a really difficult year for football.”
See the full interview and grab a Match Pass to watch the whole game LIVE in iFollow right now