Craig Short faces some familiar faces as he takes charge of the U’s for his second game as caretaker boss against Derby County on Saturday.
“I had three spells there” he told iFollow. “I was their record signing in 1992 and then had a terrible first year. I was vastly overpriced and I think the pricetag weighed me down a bit but I did get better! Eventually I got to be captain and I enjoyed those three years I had before I got a move to Everton. I went back under Nigel Clough to be Under 16s Manager and then moved up to under 23s so the club was good to me. There are still people I know behind the scenes and I know the club has had a difficult last couple of years but it’s good to see them doing well again.
“I went and watched them at Plymouth on Tuesday and the travelling support was incredible and I am sure there will be a lot of them here on Saturday. But we are in a positive mood after a good week and we will be doing our best to get the win.
“We were better at Lincoln last Saturday; we needed to be! Our two away games before that at Burton and Cambridge were poor. We had more of the ball at Lincoln but just couldn’t convert any of our opportunities. I’d happily swap the improved performance for a win though and we have to make it count this weekend.
“We will have Tyler Smith available again after injury and Billy Bodin isn’t too far behind, he is set to train on Monday. James Henry came back in last weekend and I thought he was excellent. His experience was a big help but then Tyler Goodrham and Gatlin O’Donkor have both been great, two of our younger players. We need everyone to be right on Saturday, however old they are, and ready to fight for everything. Training has been good, we have worked hard and we need the fans to stick with us, get behind the players and hopefully we get the win for them.”
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