We are giving Oxford United fans the chance to share their views on the club every Thursday this season. This week, South Stand Lower regular Rosie Dodds gives her take on one of the big talking points so far.
I’M going to talk about the mounting injury crisis that is hampering our season.
We’re not even in September, yet we’ve already got eight major players out.
In my mind, how can any manager deal with that sort of crisis?
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Karl Robinson has his hands tied at present, as the bulk of the team he would like to play are in the treatment room.
In not one game so far this season have we seen United’s best XI, which in my mind would be: Eastwood, Long, Moore, Findlay, Seddon, McGuane, Brannagan, Murphy, Browne, Baldock and Taylor.
As a fan, I can only get down to the Kassam Stadium and support the non-injured players – and cross my fingers that nobody else gets sidelined!
I’m not often an optimist, but surely our bad luck has to end soon?
I’ve been reading on social media that Robinson should sign players just to fill the gaps created by the injuries. I don’t believe in quick fixes for short-term gain.
Has his preparation been terribly disrupted by injuries in the first month of the season? Yes.
But it’s part and parcel of football, regardless of whether players have long-term injury records.
It’s a chance for United’s youngsters to share the burden. As they showed against Crystal Palace on Tuesday, if they are good enough they should play.
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After that performance, I’m excited to see whether Robinson takes players like James Golding, Gatlin O’Donkor and Slavi Spasov to Cheltenham Town on Saturday.
What if these youngsters come to the fore?
Come October, hopefully the treatment room will have emptied and United will have more of their star players back.
Form might be mediocre at present but class is permanent and I believe people like Matty Taylor will get their scoring touch back.
I’m confident that once the injuries have eased off and the squad has had time to gel, United will be firing on all cylinders.