Oxford United were simply outclassed on Tuesday night as they faced high-flyers Bolton Wanderers. There would’ve no doubt been some nerves prior to kick-off and those said emotions were certainly on show.
Bolton would run out as 5-0 winners and sent a real message out to the teams around them in the process. It was a dominant performance by Ian Evatt’s side and they do deserve full credit, however Oxford’s poor showing certainly aided the scoreline.
In fact, Des Buckingham’s side were not at the races at all, and failed to register a single shot on target. A bounce back is very much required if the U’s want to have any say in the fight for the play-offs but with just two wins in their last 12 matches, their chances are gradually slipping away from them.
As a result of the thumping loss in midweek, Oxford move down to eighth and are by far and away the most out of form side in the top ten. They may only be one point behind Stevenage in sixth but based on recent performances it looks unlikely that they’ll be able to break back into the top-six, especially with the form that Blackpool in seventh and Lincoln City in ninth are showing.
It’s fair to say that Des Buckingham is starting to feel the pressure and the midweek performance epitomised that. The Oxford native has struggled in his tenure since taking over from Liam Manning in November and since joining, they’ve gradually slipped down the League One table. Tht cannot however be solely attributed to Buckingham’s arrival, as the squad were outperforming all metrics under Manning.
Speaking to the Witney Gazzette after the loss to Bolton Wanderers, Buckingham reflected on the performance that his side put out.
“We didn’t give a good account of ourselves at all the other night. That’s probably the most disappointing thing as we weren’t able to showcase what we can play, and for those players to show what they’re capable of.
“You just want a reaction. We’ve shown in-game, whether it’s a goal against, how quick we are to react, and now it’s about making sure we react from the start. We’ve had our meetings and reviews of the game, and our usual get togethers that we’ve always had.
Looking at the fight for the top six, the head coach would comment:
“That’s the context we have to wrap it in. It’s not just ourselves. If you look anywhere across the league, the league is what it is this year. Everybody’s beating everybody, and people are struggling to put runs together. Those that have had runs are now coming off the back of them and are struggling.
“It’s important we use Saturday to start our own run, and make sure that come the end of the season, we finish where we want to finish, and as one of the form teams going into what will hopefully be the play-offs.”
Writer’s View
Oxford fans will be a lot less confident with their play-off chances after the rather humiliating defeat on Tuesday night. Given Bolton could be one of the teams in this season’s play-offs, there was a clear gulf in quality.
As emphasised by Buckingham, the players have to react and bounce back. Fortunately for them they do have a relatively easy fixture on Saturday as they face strugglers Port Vale. However it is by no means a given that they can bounce back and it will be intriguing to see just how much the players have been affected by the loss.
A defeat at the hands of Port Vale would surely all but end their season, and a better performance is expected.
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