Oxford boss Karl Robinson applauds hat-trick hero James Henry

Posted Sunday, August 29, 2021 by PA

Oxford boss Karl Robinson paid tribute to James Henry after the midfielder’s hat-trick destroyed injury-hit Lincoln 3-1.

Henry struck with shots from outside the area in the 12th and 24th minutes and completed his treble from the penalty spot after Matty Taylor was tripped by Lewis Montsma.

Robinson said: “He’s a master at annoying me, but in a good way.

“I like players who’ve played at a higher level where there’s an aloofness to them.

“But James Henry is an outstanding player and to get 51 goals for this club and for him to get past 100 goals as a midfielder are fantastic achievements.”

Robinson was delighted with his side’s display.

He said: “We were excellent the way we moved the football and asked questions of the opposition.

“I know they had lots of personnel not available, but they were still a strong outfit.

“We were very, very good in a lot of aspects of our play, although we were arguably better against Bolton last week when we didn’t get anything from the game, according to those who saw us there.

“But to have 10 points from the first five games is very good from us and we’re only going to improve.”

Anthony Scully hit a late consolation from the spot for Lincoln, who had six players sidelined and were only able to name five substitutes.

Lincoln manager Michael Appleton said: “Everything that happened before the game with player availability of course made things difficult but I don’t want to use that as an excuse.

“The first 45 minutes cost us, but I still want us to be better than that, and we were in the second half.

“We gave the ball away in poor areas of the field. I expect my players to get in the face of James Henry as he shoots and we didn’t do that.

“I actually questioned one or two in the dressing room about how hard they had worked and how much they really wanted to win the game. And that’s the first time I’ve had to do that.

“We did improve in the second half and were threatening and pushing them back.

“I’ve no idea why we’ve got so many injuries at the moment. I don’t know if it’s down to the short pre-season, or the long post-season with getting to the play-off final. Maybe it’s a bit of both.

“We need to get players in who can improve the 11. I’d like to improve the numbers in the squad by at least two as well, whether that’s three in and one out, I don’t know.

“But I don’t want to use selection problems as an excuse today. We didn’t give ourselves a chance – we were sloppy in that opening period.”