David Longwell previews Town's Sky Bet League One away clash against Oxford United.
Town are back on the road this Tuesday night as they take on Oxford United. Tuesday's game was originally scheduled to take place on the 7th of January but was postponed due to Town's involvement in the Emirates FA Cup. Town are now set to face the U's twice in the space of three weeks.
Steve Cotterill's men will need to bring the same level of intensity and discipline that was on display against Gillingham last Saturday as they face a strong Oxford side who put six past Crewe Alexandra in their last outing.
First Team Coach David Longwell is anticipating a tough test against the U's.
On the test of Oxford United:
"They definitely pass the ball more than Gillingham did on Saturday, but there's no rights and wrongs in football. Gillingham was a really tough test for us but Oxford will be another tough test with a different style of play.
"They like to build out from the back and they are very expansive. It's something we've been working on in training this morning, how we can nullify their threats and exploit them.
"The boys are looking forward to the game, the confidence is high with a three-nil win last week and another clean sheet on Saturday. We definitely felt like we deserved to win the game on Saturday, so we're going into the game with a lot of positivity about ourselves.
"Oxford started the season slowly but have been on several really good runs. We're very well aware of how they play. I think our game plan worked really well on the weekend on how to stop Gillingham and it will be the same tomorrow but we will be focussing on how we can create more chances and score."
On the remainder of the season:
"Players love playing football. They are just desperate to get out there and play. I think because we're starting to get players back from injury that's helping us. If you look at the bench on Saturday it was looking strong. We're in a position now to bring some players off the bench if we need them tomorrow which really helps us in terms of freshness.
"We've still got Brad Walker, Josh Daniels and Aaron Pierre out. It's really difficult to have everyone available because the season has been so demanding and physical. We're managing to squeeze the last ounce out of this group.
"We don't have a massive squad but I think we're getting the best out of it."
