Robinson chirpy after tweet gives his Oxford players an edge

Posted Sunday, January 20, 2019 by PA

Oxford United boss Karl Robinson admitted a Portsmouth tweet motivated his team to win their first game in eight in all competitions and move out of the Sky Bet League One relegation zone.

Pompey’s official account posted a message which included a clip from the clash between the sides last season, showing Nathan Thompson shouting in Alex Mowatt’s face after the Oxford loanee missed a penalty.

Robinson admitted after the 2-1 win at the Kassam Stadium: “There was extra motivation after a tweet put out by Portsmouth relating to something last season.”

United went in front in the 25th minute when Cameron Brannagan struck a low shot from 20 yards from Jordan Graham’s pass.

Moments before half time James Henry made it 2-0 with his 13th goal of the season, rifling high into the net after Jamie Mackie held the ball up well from Graham’s cross.

Pompey pulled a goal back on 64 minutes when substitute Brett Pitman converted with a superb scissor-kick from close range from a Lou Dennis’ cross.

Robinson continued: “It was just nice to have strong options on the bench, and to be able to bring on players like Marcus Browne and Ahmed Kashi.

“Our bravery and application to see the game out was fantastic.

“It’s been a difficult week for Gavin Whyte, but he wanted to play. He was worried about letting down the fans and both he and our other winger, Jordan Graham, put a real shift in.

“One of Portsmouth’s key plays is their long diagonal balls but our full-backs dealt with those very well.

“They were two good goals, and then we had a 20-minute spell at the start of the second half where we stood firm and we were unlucky not to get a third.

“But anyone with any feeling for Oxford would of course have felt nervous in those last 20 minutes.”

Pompey boss Kenny Jackett admits he needs to look again at his team’s attacking combinations after a second successive loss, which means their lead at the top has been cut to a single point.

Jackett said: “In the first half we competed well and didn’t allow them to have too many shots.

“We’ve had a lot of games like this where we’ve generally held it to 0-0 then come strong in the second half.

“We have generally come through those periods without conceding but going two goals down gave us a lot to do.

“I don’t think we were actually that bad in the first half. Their first goal looked a quality goal, if I’m being honest, and then we had long enough to clear the second goal.

“But we didn’t work their keeper enough. The number of clear-cut chances we created weren’t many.”

Jackett continued: “We’d been looking for the right combination for the front three.

“After the defeat last week, when Brett Pitman played, we thought we would have a change and look at a front three of David Wheeler, Jamal Lowe and Ronan Curtis and try to utilise Jamal’s pace.

“I wouldn’t say it particularly worked. But Oxford competed and played very well.”