Oxford United returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory on the road at Lincoln.
A Ciaron Brown header and a goalkeeping error following some good work from Stanley Mills sealed a comfortable win for the U’s.
Here are three talking points from the game:
Sam Long Injury and Change of Formation
Liam Manning opted for a back three of Ciaron Brown, Elliott Moore and Sam Long but when the latter was forced off injured after just eight minutes, the head coach needed to make a change.
Jordan Thorniley, the only defender on the bench, seemed the obvious change but he brought on Stanley Mills, with Greg Leigh and Fin Stevens dropping to full-back and Mills on the right-hand side of midfield.
The change in formation certainly worked, with Mills a constant threat and a defence which looked comfortable and organised – which we will get to later.
Fin-Tastic and Super-Stan
Stevens has often played as a wing-back this season but slotted into the right-back role with ease. He looked solid defensively but got forward at the right times.
As for Mills, it was arguably one of his best games for the U’s. The Everton loanee was a constant threat, cutting inside, going outside and making darting runs. It was one of his darting runs and crosses that forced the goalkeeper into fumbling the ball into his own net.
Therefore, it’s little surprise that Oxford’s best attacking threat came down the right-hand side with the duo forming a decent little partnership.
Clean Sheet and Defensive Stability
Despite looking comfortable in their recent change of shape to a back three, Oxford hadn’t kept a clean sheet since a 3-0 win at Shrewsbury at the start of the month. However, being forced back into a four actually made the backline look more solid.
The quartet were strong in the air and took to their positions naturally. It was arguably Brown’s best performance in the middle of defence, which puts more pressure on Jordan Thorniley and Stephan Negru to return.
Of course, the defence was helped massively by the return of Cameron Brannagan. The midfielder has missed two of the last three winless games through illness but made a return against Wycombe as a substitute.
The backline, and team as a whole, didn’t even need to get out of second gear against a poor Imps side.
