Oxford United boss sends message to fans (From The Oxford Times)

Oxford United boss sends message to fans

8:00am Monday 15th March 2010 in

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DON’T write us off – that was the message from manager Chris Wilder after his team dropped two more points at home against Kettering on Saturday.

The U’s 1-1 draw at the Kassam Stadium means Stevenage now lead the Blue Square Premier by rights for the first time.

They are a point ahead of Oxford with the same number of games played.

But Wilder said anyone writing Oxford United off for the title, and automatic promotion, would do so at their peril.

“We’re still massively in this,” he insisted. “We’ll dust ourselves down and go again.

“I think everybody has said it, there are going to be more twists and turns.

“It wasn’t the result we wanted, against a good Kettering side who, in the second half, were pretty happy to go away with a point, which is understandable.

“We’ll get on with it, keep our own counsel, let other managers say their piece and just keep working hard.”

He added: “We’ve got to keep going, we’re not turning it in . . . there’s no white flag.

“Write us off at your peril, because there’s a lot of fight left. And other teams at the top now have got to handle the pressure that we’ve had to handle all season.”

In a dour game of few chances, United got their noses in front through Franny Green’s first league goal for the club, only to surrender their hard-won advantage by conceding another goal from a set piece.

But they also lacked confidence and quality at the top end of the pitch.

“I’m frustrated because we should have gone on to win the game,” Wilder said.

“The first 25 minutes we were on the front foot, we created chances, the reaction from Tuesday was really good, we competed and made contact with the game, and things happened for us.

“I was disappointed that we didn’t add to the one goal we had, and really disappointed with their goal.

“It gave them a massive lift. They’d not created anything first half and it came from a set piece so they didn’t really have to work for it.

“In the second half, you could see the situation we’re in. The players are trying to do the right things, it isn’t coming off for them at the moment.

“Players are just lacking a bit of confidence at the moment, but that really does change quickly.

“We’ve got to get over it and we’ve got to get over it pretty quick.”