Karl Robinson heaps praise on Oxford after Posh win

Posted Sunday, August 11, 2019 by PA

Oxford may not have the stars of big-spending Peterborough but they have a strong group prepared to work hard for each other, according to manager Karl Robinson.

Cameron Brannagan’s 12th-minute volley gave the U’s a 1-0 win over much-fancied Posh, which leaves Darren Ferguson’s team with no points from two games.

Peterborough had conceded two early goals in their 3-1 home defeat by Fleetwood on the opening day, and at a windy Kassam Stadium they again took time to get going.

Ferguson criticised his team for their slow start, and said: “Two defeats out of two is obviously a disappointing start to the season.

“The first half just wasn’t good enough. We keep giving ourselves a mountain to climb.

“If you start games like that you have a problem. There wasn’t enough energy in the performance with us in the first half.

“We were much better in the second half and George Boyd showed with his energy what we want. I always felt George would be a very good midfield player.

“They didn’t really have anything against us in the second half. But we have to start games the way we finished this one.”

Peterborough showed much more urgency in the second half, had more of the ball, and Marcus Maddison went close to levelling with a drive that Simon Eastwood tipped over.

But Oxford might have added to Brannagan’s goal with Ben Woodburn firing over a near open goal after James Henry’s chip came back off the crossbar.

Robinson is delighted with the start his team have made as they followed up their 1-1 draw at Sunderland with victory over opponents he expects to be challenging at the end of the season.

Robinson said: “The first half was what I expect of my teams.

“I thought when we lost the ball, the way we pressed was outstanding. We look really good out of possession.

“I don’t think we have superstars, but we have a good group of men. We have a tremendous sense of humility about us.

“Once they get going, Peterborough will be very strong in our division.

“We’ve got a lot more still to do so we’re not getting carried away but the goal summed up everything that was good about us – good forward passes, good forward runs and a great finish by Cameron.”

Robinson said he took Brannagan off after an hour because he had been booked and he did not want to risk a red card.

“It was the same referee who had sent Shandon Baptiste off last season. We had to make a decision,” he added.

Oxford and Peterborough lock horns again this week, with the teams facing each other at the Kassam Stadium in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night.