Cambridge United’s Monk Emphasizes Moving On From ‘Horrible’ Loss

Cambridge United manager Garry Monk has stated that the 6-1 derby defeat against Peterborough United from the previous weekend has been “boxed off” as the team seeks to return to winning form. This follows a period where Cambridge has secured victories in only seven of the 29 matches played since Monk assumed leadership. The significant loss at the Weston Homes Stadium brought an end to the U’s five-match winning streak, a run that had lifted them from the bottom of the League One table. Monk’s squad is now aiming to put that result behind them as they prepare to host fourth-placed Barnsley at home on Saturday. Speaking to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Monk remarked, “It was a horrible result for us last week. The nature of what we do is you have to regroup very quickly and focus on what’s ahead, but not forgetting what’s just happened.” He further explained, “We boxed it off at the start of the week in terms of what that was and what it means for us, and are really gearing it towards a real response in this game, that’s the only action left for us after a game like that.” Monk added, “We’ve tried to isolate it in that sense. But there needs to be a response in terms of the hurt we feel from an individual point of view, but also the hurt that our supporters would have felt from the game.” Monk highlighted that suffering such a scoreline in a derby match made a positive rebound doubly essential. However, the team faced a setback with defender James Gibbons sustaining a knee injury during the first half against Peterborough, an injury expected to keep him out for 10 to 12 weeks. “It’s not great but it’s better than what we thought it was going to be and hopefully Gibbo will be back for a good part of the season,” Monk commented. Additionally, Dan Barton and Paul Digby remain sidelined, and on-loan midfielder Josh Stokes is not expected to return to full training until next week or the week after, following an aggravation of his own knee problem. Last season, Cambridge demonstrated resilience by recovering strongly from 3-0 and 4-0 defeats at the hands of Lincoln City and Reading, respectively. Experienced forward Elias Kachunga believes the team is capable of achieving a similar recovery this time. Kachunga stated, “We’ve been there when we didn’t have the results we wanted and showed a reaction and we have to do the same again.” He continued, “You always in a season have patch where the results have maybe not gone the way you want them and it’s important in this moment to come back and hopefully we can start another good run.”