Cambridge United Manager Expresses Confidence Despite Relegation Zone Position

Garry Monk, who assumed management of Cambridge in March 2024, previously held managerial positions at Swansea, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Birmingham, and Sheffield Wednesday. Following a late equalizer that secured a draw against promotion-contending Wrexham, manager Garry Monk stated that Cambridge United “don’t feel like a bottom-four team.” Despite this result, the U’s continue to occupy a League One relegation spot, a consequence of a poor season start where they accumulated only one point from their initial nine fixtures. This draw, achieved in north Wales, marks their fourth in the past six matches, during which the U’s have suffered only a single defeat. Monk conveyed to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, “To a man, the guys that started, the guys that came on, even the guys that didn’t come on, it was a united performance and if anything, there was a slight tinge of disappointment that we didn’t win the game.” He further added, “Even though we are in the bottom four, we don’t feel like we are a bottom-four team and I think we’ve been proving that since the Wigan game when we got our first win, trying to build consistency with points.” Monk emphasized, “We’ve got to make sure we keep backing up performances like this and keep trying to build runs of points and performances, and hopefully sooner rather than later we’ll be away from where we are in the league at this moment in time.” Wrexham maintains an undefeated home record in the league this season, and Cambridge became only the second team among 11 visitors to secure a point there, a result Monk described as the “minimum” they merited. After taking the lead via Elias Kachunga and subsequently falling behind, the U’s relied on an 89th-minute penalty from Dan Nlundulu to equalize. This marked Nlundulu’s fifth goal since joining on loan from Bolton Wanderers. Nlundulu informed BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, “There’s nothing better than being an underdog, teams doubt us and we catch them by surprise.” He continued, “We’ve got a good squad, good people and good players as well. The start of the season killed us a little bit but we’re getting that belief back, getting some players back from injury and we’re only getting stronger.” Cambridge faces another challenging fixture at home against fourth-placed Huddersfield Town on Friday, followed by away matches against Charlton Athletic and Leyton Orient as their initial two post-Christmas games. Nlundulu affirmed his complete dedication to assisting the club, notwithstanding Bolton’s January recall option embedded in his season-long loan agreement. “Bolton is a great club with great fans as well. I watch out for them and see how they’re doing but right now I’m at Cambridge, I’m enjoying my game-time, playing Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday, taking my recovery (time) seriously so I can be ready for the next game and continue to perform the way I am,” Nlundulu stated. He added, “If I was to be recalled (to Bolton), that’s a conversation me and my agent will have to have, but I’m glad to be here and looking forward to Friday and taking it game by game.”