Buckingham Urges Oxford United to Overcome Away Struggles

Head coach Des Buckingham stated that Oxford United must not succumb to self-pity as their difficulties in away matches persisted. Following Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to fellow struggling team QPR, the Us have now been defeated in eight of their 10 away fixtures across all competitions this season, with the remaining two ending in draws. They have not secured a league victory on the road since a 2-1 win at Exeter in April. Speaking to BBC Radio Oxford, Buckingham commented: “We played some good football but lacked that cutting edge in the final third. There were some good moments, but there wasn’t that crispness that we’ve seen in recent games.” He further elaborated on the match: “When their first goal goes in – especially when we’ve had good control of the game – it changes the complexity of the match and feels like you’re hard done by. We conceded a very sloppy second goal and it’s not the result we wanted.” This defeat caused Buckingham’s squad to fall to 20th place in the Championship standings, one position behind QPR (the Rs). Only two points separate the bottom five teams. Despite this, Buckingham remains optimistic as Oxford United (the Us) prepares to host Sheffield Wednesday this weekend. “We need to add to add that final third to the good build up play we have,” he added. “We have come to a team who have picked up some good results. But we have a long way to go and we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.” Regarding team selection, he stated: “We always pick the team that is the best fit for the game we have to play. We will always do that. Players have to play to a level, and we will do the same on Saturday and see what Sheffield Wednesday pose, and see what the best team is.” Buckingham concluded by emphasizing the team’s perspective: “This isn’t the end of the world. We are disappointed, but we have a nice home game on Saturday to try and get three points.”