Gary Rowett discussed his team choices ahead of Oxford United’s Saturday clash at home to Millwall.
Fresh off the back of their 2-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday, the U’s manager reflected on the injuries that occurred on the pitch, including captain Cameron Brannagan’s fitness for the Millwall home game.
He said: “Hopefully a couple more days rest and he’ll be good to go.
Brodie Spencer, I think it’s probably going to be a lot longer, looks as though it’s a foot injury, maybe a metatarsal injury. He’ll be out for a good few weeks I would imagine.”
Gary Rowett talked over the challenge of picking out a team for their Championship games: “Our squad size is probably just a tiny bit too big.
It means you’ve got a little bit of a top heavy squad, and you can see that in a lot of the forward areas, we’ve probably got too many numbers, but we’ve got some good options and what it does mean is that I’m the one that gets to deal with those.”
He discussed these difficult player decisions, impacting attackers like Thomas Bradshaw and Tyler Goodrham in squad choices.
“Tyler I think was ill in Indonesia, which set him back a little bit because he came back, looked really good the first few games, but it took him a while to get back and recover from that
He’s a talented young player. I’d expect him to come again and like I said, he’s been a little bit unfortunate.”
“Tom Bradshaw, I’ve worked with before, he’s a player and character that I absolutely love. To come in every week with a smile on his face and work incredibly hard without the reward of the weekend, you know, it’s quite difficult.”
Gary reinstated his pride in the boys’ commitment to the supporters, following the fan open day at the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday.
“The players here are very good. I’ve been at clubs where occasionally players might see an extra hour in the cold as not ideal for what they want, but our players are very good, they get involved in everything.
A player’s ability to inspire and spend a bit of time with some young fans, I think goes a long way.”
Oxford’s positive momentum will be key for their game against Millwall, who currently sit third in the Championship table.
“I think myself and everyone would love to see Millwall gatecrash the top positions in the division. It looks like they’re certainly giving themselves a good go.
It’s such a unique club in terms of the fan base, but the way they’ve gone about things is certainly a beacon for any smaller team in the Championship.”
Oxford United take on Millwall at the Kassam on Saturday 1st November. Tickets are still available and can be purchased HERE.
By Gemma Rousell