Oxford United’s head coach, Des Buckingham, has called for his players to stay composed ahead of their League One fixture with Reading, in an interview with BBC Radio Oxford.
Tuesday night sees the two clubs meet for the first time since 2004 in what could be a pivotal game for the future outlook of their season. Although it is only December, a win could really swing momentum in the winners’ favour prior to a busy Christmas schedule.
Momentum is something that Oxford certainly need at the minute, having yet to score a league goal under Buckingham after he joined the club following Liam Manning’s departure in November. Although they have progressed through to the next round of both the FA Cup and EFL Trophy, that first three points is still eluding Buckingham.
However he has the ideal opportunity to get his first win on the board on Tuesday night, as his side travel to 23rd place Reading. The Royals performances have seriously fluctuated in recent weeks, comfortably beating Carlisle United 5-1 before losing to National League side Eastleigh in the FA Cup and then being turned over 3-1 by Barnsley last weekend.
It is certainly a winnable fixture for Oxford, who will be looking to maintain their place in the play-off places after falling down to 6th on the weekend. Although it will be the first time in 19 years that the two clubs meet, the matchup is considered somewhat of a local derby, and tempers may well be high.
Buckingham, in his interview with BBC Radio Oxford called for his players to keep level-headed in order to have the best possible chance of victory.
“You have to control emotions to help make decisions wherever you can.”
“When you have got a loud crowd of our away fans – and I’m sure they (Reading) will bring a good amount there, we will try and remove the emotions from it. But at the same time you want the emotion in the game, that’s the exciting part of football, it’s making sure you can control that emotion.”
A win for Oxford would see them go at least fourth, with the potential to go as high as second dependent on the potential winning margin, however they do need to win by seven to pass second-place Bolton Wanderers which seems rather unlikely.
Reading on the other hand could climb up to 21st with a win in a game which will see both sides want to attack from the off. As Buckingham said, controlling emotions is incredibly important, especially in a local derby, and that could be the difference between winning and losing on Tuesday night.
Writer’s View
It has been a disappointing start for Des Buckingham at Oxford United, however he did have huge shoes to fill after Liam Manning departed for Bristol City. That being said, the side have still surpassed all expectations and a drop-off was expected at some point.
It’s now all about steadying the ship, and a win against Reading would go a long way in helping that. It should be a tight game and one that Oxford need to win if they want to have any chance of making the play-offs this season.
