Oxford United ended their five-game winless run with a 4-2 win over Wigan.
There were goals from Josh Murphy, Cameron Brannagan, Ruben Rodrigues and Tyler Goodrham, but it was a nervy 90 minutes against the Latics.
Here are three talking points from the game.
Line-up and Formation
Des Buckingham made changes from the team that picked up a vital point at Blackpool last time out.
The back five of Jamie Cumming, Sam Long, Greg Leigh, Elliott Moore and Ciaron Brown stayed intact but there was a full debut for Jay Matete in the holding role, with Marcus McGuane and Brannagan switching between the deeper and attacking positions.
There was also a full debut for Owen Dale while there was a first start since injury on the opposite flank for Murphy, with Mark Harris once against leading the line.
There was a return to the bench for Joe Bennett but Will Goodwin was left out altogether, with a rest needed ahead of the Wycombe game on Saturday.
It was a nervy display from Oxford (which we’ll get to shortly) but it’s no coincidence that with all the attacking options the U’s had, they ended up with four goals.
Tale of Two Halves
The first 30 minutes of this game was extremely scrappy. In part due to the weather, in part due to the referee stopping the game far too often, and in part because Oxford just couldn’t get going.
Wigan had two decent opportunities in the opening half an hour before Brannagan smashed the post, but when the Latics took the lead five minutes before the break it was no less than they deserved.
However, the turning point came when Murphy cleverly rolled the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box, (credit to Leigh for his overlapping run), with the equaliser coming right on the brink of half time.
After the restart, an early goal from Brannagan got Oxford flowing before Ruben Rodrigues looked to have sealed it with a third.
Despite being on the back foot, Wigan did find a second and set up a nervy finale, but Goodrham smashed home a fourth late on.
Substitutes
Credit has to go to Buckingham for the changes he made in this game.
Dale didn’t have a great game down the right-hand side and was replaced by Goodrham at the break, with the substitute netting a late goal.
Matete, who is still building up his match fitness, was replaced by Rodrigues (who also scored) and this set up a regular midfield three with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Murphy, who was arguably man of the match, managed 74 minutes before being taken off, with Billy Bodin coming into the game, and the Welshman, who has also come back from injury, looked decent.
There was also a one-minute cameo for Bennett.
