adminGary Rowett sets Oxford United expectations ahead of Stoke City
Siriki Dembele cuts inside and sends the ball towards the box.
His tame ball deflects off the defender and travels across the edge of the box. It could not have fallen much more nicely for Przemyslaw Placheta.
Eyes lighting up, the Pole swings his left foot at the bouncing ball, directing it towards the bottom right corner and past Max Crocombe. The Kassam Stadium erupts.
The U’s were firm underdogs on Saturday with Gary Rowett’s men three points above the drop zone ahead of kick-off. Their opponents, on the other hand, were flying.
Four wins in their previous four games had seen Millwall climb to third in the Championship, playing some good football with winger Femi Azeez taking headlines.
It was impressive then that Oxford were able to trip up Alex Neil’s men. Two sweet strikes from Cameron Brannagan and substitute Placheta respectively saw United come from behind twice to draw level.
This season has shown the U’s to be inconsistent. Last week saw two good performances against Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday, the former particularly impressive, interrupted by a flat showing away at Wrexham in midweek.
The draw with Millwall now sees Rowett’s Yellows pick up points in their last two matches, a much-needed platform going into three tough games against play-off chasers Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, and Middlesbrough.
“The reality of this division is I think every game is a tough game,” the U’s 51-year-old boss admitted.
“It’s like Sheffield Wednesday last week; it’s quite interesting that some people’s perception of that is that that’s a game we should go and win.
“I’m not really sure Oxford United in the Championship should win any game. We have to go and scrap and fight and play with a bit of composure.
“And we’ve shown that when we do that we can give any team in this division a good match.”
With points now starting to accrue and teams around them continuing to struggle, Oxford can now begin to build a foundation for the season which can help them fend off relegation for a second campaign.
The U’s are now four points clear of the relegation zone in 18th place, with the only team below them to pick up points being Blackburn Rovers who sit one spot adrift of Rowett’s side on goal difference.
“What we want to do of course is build points,” the ex-Millwall manager continued.
“I said that earlier in the season I thought we’d played quite well in some games but without the points to show for it. Now what we’ve started to do is start to build some points total.
“That’s seven points from the last four games, again we’re just starting to build in the right way where we want to be and obviously that’ll help us to achieve what we want to achieve.”
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