Oxford United head for Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night in an Emirates FA Cup replay (7pm)
With a game at in-form Ipswich on the weekend just gone and a trip to promotion chasing Wigan to follow, boss Karl Robinson is likely to make changes to his line-up at the Memorial Stadium, but as he told iFollow, he believes that a strong squad can hopefully help the U’s go through.
“We will make a lot of changes but they won’t necessarily weaken the team” he said.
“We’ve seen already this season that when players get their chance they really want to do well because there is such competition for places. Our training levels went up after the first game because people were pushing each other. Marcus McGuane is a great example: he got his chance and has been involved ever since. I thought we were more purposeful when he came on at Ipswich on Saturday.
“It’s certainly a competition we want to do well in and I think it is set up for a really good cup tie. Both clubs have a healthy respect for each other and whatever I do in life I want to win. If people think we would go to a place like Bristol, make changes and be flippant about the result it makes my blood boil a little bit.
“Bristol will be the same, we both want to win. Whoever puts on the yellow shirt knows what it means and there is an unwritten rule that you put that shirt on to go out there and win. I don’t see the replay as a negative at all, I see it as an opportunity to keep our good run of form going, a chance to test ourselves against a really good side at a difficult place to go, and it’s a game we are all looking forward to.”
See the full interview in iFollow plus the thoughts of former Rovers forward Billy Bodin