Robinson happy with Oxford players after narrow win at Blackpool

Posted Sunday, February 24, 2019 by PA

Oxford manager Karl Robinson hailed his side’s bravery and tenacity as they inflicted Blackpool’s first league loss since New Year’s Day and moved out of the relegation zone in the process.

Jordan Graham’s inch-perfect free-kick before half-time proved enough for Robinson’s side to notch their first win in six league matches with a 1-0 victory.

Robinson admitted he had feared Blackpool’s impressive home record before kick-off, but felt his side delivered the perfect away day showing when it mattered most and also hailed Oxford’s travelling support.

“It’s a vital win in the end,” said Robinson.

“We know we’ve been good but not maybe had the performance or the result certainly to follow that.

“They were eighth in the league and what shocked me is the fans – they’re overachieving and what the staff have done here, they’re way above where they should be in this league.

“We made this a hostile atmosphere for them to play in and we frustrated them. It wasn’t pretty, and I think you could clearly see what our game plan was.

“We sold that corner out and most teams don’t do that and for a team that’s not won away from home all season, it’s incredible.

“Don’t forget we played on Tuesday away at Accrington and to come back here again, we can’t come here with free-flowing football because we didn’t have the legs to.

“We reduced the distance covered by our shape and the game plan that we worked very hard on. The most important thing is the players that carry that out and the players deserve tremendous credit, along with the fans once again.”

The U’s nearly broke the deadlock when Rob Dickie nodded Luke Garbutt’s floated free-kick into the side netting before the half hour.

Mark Howard was powerless to stop Graham’s sublime curling free-kick which flew over the wall and nestled in the top corner five minutes from the break.

Curtis Tilt went close before the hour after rising highest to meet Harry Pritchard’s free-kick as Blackpool pressed, while substitute Jordan Thompson nearly took advantage of some uncertain Oxford defending with fewer than 20 minutes left.

Garbutt tested Howard with a low drive and Blackpool’s Joe Dodoo stung Eastwood’s palms at the other end with a powerful strike as Oxford managed to hang on.

Blackpool boss Terry McPhillips said: “Where they are and desperate for the points, it’s a great win for them.

“They haven’t got bad players, they’ve got some good players for sure going forward and they’re an expensive team and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

“We knew we were going to have to play well and we didn’t play as well as we know we can play, of course, and it’s disappointing not to back the two great away draws up with a win here.

“We’ll have to take it on the chin that we just haven’t done well enough to win a game.

“They put their bodies on the line, to be fair to them, which wasn’t what we quite saw on Tuesday at Accrington with them.

“They’ve rallied, and they’ve done well – congratulations to them – but we’re going to have to do better than that.”