Oxford United look to bounce back when they welcome league leaders Portsmouth to the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday (7.45pm)
Defeat at Bristol Rovers on Saturday saw the U’s lose ground on Pompey at the top of League 1 but as midfielder Cameron Brannagan told iFollow, two home games in a week give the team the perfect chance to show a positive response.
“I try to speak in the changing room after a game if I can and get around the boys to talk to them, with me being one of the older ones now” Cameron said. “We were all frustrated and we know we didn’t start well enough on Saturday, that was the most disappointing thing. I thought in the second half we played really well and created chances to get back into the game. We were going for it then they score and the game is done.
“We can’t be waiting until we go 2-0 down before we switch on though. We have to be right for 90 minutes and that has to start on Tuesday”.
United come up against a familiar face on Tuesday night with former skipper John Mousinho returning to the U’s as Pompey Manager. Cameron won’t let friendship get in the way though:
“Mous was always good at man management and a bit of a leader here. He is a good guy so it’s good to see him doing well. He helped me here - I came in as a young lad and he made sure I was OK so I have a lot of respect for him but come tomorrow night there will be no respect! It’s a game we want to win and that has to be the focus.
“We have Portsmouth and then Reading at home, two big games. But every one of them is massive now. We have to go out and train on Monday, work on what they are good at, what we are good at and then hopefully go out on Tuesday night and get all three points.
“It’s down to us as players to step on to that pitch and take responsibility now. There are 18 games left, a lot of points to go for. It’s up to us so we have to go out there on Tuesday and show what we are good at. It will be a tough game but hopefully we get the three points.”
See the full interview in iFollow.
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