Manager Expecting Another Tough Game
“I thought he was excellent,” said Micky.“For his League debut, he showed some great composure and showed that he is a lad who has come from a good upbringing up in football."
Northern Ireland Under-21 international Rhys Sharpe made his Football League debut for Shrews on Tuesday night after joining on a one-month youth loan deal from Derby County, and Micky was impressed with what he saw.
"He came in and he was fantastic," said Micky.
"He gave a captain's performance and a lot of the lads fed off that.
"His desire in order to keep us moving forward and keep everybody’s standards high is second to none and on his day there is no better player in the division.
"But we shouldn’t have to freshen people up just to get a reaction out of people, they should be relentless in every game that they play and realise that it's important you show that desire to stay in the team."
Micky was also happy to have some key players back available, especially captaint Liam Lawrence, who impressed upon his return to the starting-11 in midweek.
"At this time of the season every game is really difficult," said Micky.
"It will be a tough game against a well-organised Oxford side who will want to come here and bounce back from a defeat.
"Tuesday night was a terrific response to what we believe was a performance that didn’t resemble us last weekend (at Wycombe).
"The fire in the bellies and the desire to want to come out on top, together with the control they showed despite going a goal down, and to stick to the plan was terrific.
"It’s important to get results every week regardless of where we are going or who or where we are playing.
"It’s a tough league so we have to be prepared to go out and run hard and fight hard to try and get something in this division, and if we do not do that first and foremost we will find it really tough."
The manager is now hoping to keep things going in the same direction in the run-up to the game.
Micky Mellon's side won 4-1 at Morecambe on Tuesday night to end a run of two games without a win.
Town take on the U's in the Sky Bet League 2 clash at the Greenhous Meadow (3pm kick-off) looking to continue their own charge towards the top of the table.
Manager Micky Mellon expects a tought test for Shrewsbury Town against an Oxford United side looking to bounce back from defeat at home to Hartlepool United in midweek.