ALEX Matos understands he has to earn the right to get a starting berth in the Oxford United midfield following his loan move from Chelsea.
The 20-year-old joined United on January 10, and has come off the bench in all four games since his arrival.
His endeavour and energy from the bench hasn’t gone unnoticed, and the next step for the midfielder will be to try and dislodge either Cameron Brannagan or Will Vaulks from the U’s midfield.
READ ALSO: Gary Rowett explains call to send centre half back to Salford City on loan
Matos said: “I always knew there was going to be competition in the midfield. Everyone has got to earn the right to play, and I’ll continue working to earn my right to play.
“They’re two quality players to learn from, and to play with them will be a fantastic learning for me.
“I hope to play in the pivot. That’s where I normally play in my best position, so hopefully I can play in that position much more.
“I’ve come here to play and of course I want to play games, but I have to understand that when I came in, the team was getting good results.
“I want to play as many games as I can. I’m still young and always learning, so it’s good to play as many games as I can.
“I’m focused on this loan and performing to the best of my ability, and then we’ll see after the season.”
Matos was the second United signing under head coach Gary Rowett, and had a similar spell during the second half of last season at Huddersfield Town in Sky Bet Championship.
The midfielder joined the Terriers on loan from Chelsea last January, and played 19 times in the second tier.
Fifteen of those games were starts, while he scored once, in a 5-3 loss at Southampton.
Matos made a good impression with the Terriers, however he was unable to stop the side from being relegated to League One.
On his spell with the U’s, Matos said: “I’m enjoying it so far. I’ve come into a very good team. We’re performing well and getting results, and I’m happy to play my part.
“Gary’s got the team going. We’re getting results, we’re doing really well, we’re playing very well and working hard for each other, so hopefully we can continue that.
“We’ve got quality in this team, and we can score a lot of goals, and so far, I think we’re doing really well.
“As I’ve come in, I’ve seen the boys perform very well and I’m happy to play my part.”
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About the author
Liam is the sports reporter for the Oxford Mail, primarily focusing on Oxford United.
He joined in November 2019 as a news reporter, and has previously covered patches including West Oxfordshire, education and local politics.
Liam received a Masters in Journalism from UCLan and can be found on X through the handle @OxMailLiamRice