Oxford United will need to rise to the challenge when the two University cities meet on Tuesday evening.
Oxford take on Cambridge United in the Third Round of the Papa John’s Trophy at the Kassam Stadium (7pm) and First Team Coach Craig Short knows that the U’s will have to be at their best to get through:
“It’s a difficult game for us, we know that” he told iFollow.”We got a bit of a surprise against Forest Green when we played them- we knew they were a good team and knew all about them but they played really well that night. We have warned the players that Cambridge are on a very good run and we are going to have to be on our guard. But I think the closer you get to Wembley the more every side takes it seriously. But it will be a tough encounter.
“The message we tried to get across to the players today is that if you get through this then you are potentially two games from Wembley. The final is scheduled towards the end of April so hopefully the world is in a better place by then; who knows, it might be a great occasion. I wasn’t here last season but getting to Wembley and not having fans there was tough. One of the reasons you want to play football is to play at Wembley in front of a big crowd, that’s everyone’s dream: I was fortunate enough to do it three times, right at the start of my career. I thought it was going to happen every year and it didn’t!
“We have changed players in previous rounds and it’s nice to have Cameron Brannagan available again. Sam Winnall gives us healthy competition for Matty Taylor up front and we have a fully fit squad. The medical team have done wonders with covid as well as injuries and we are in a good place.
“It doesn’t seem five minutes ago that I was doing an interview when we were having a bad time. We have got a bit of a run going, have come through some tough physical games against good opposition and now we have this run going it doesn’t matter what game comes next, what competition;you want to win it to keep the place buzzing.”
See the full interview in iFollow where Match Passes are available for just £10. CLICK HERE to see the whole game