Oxford United have won their opening two home league games for the first time since the 2012/13 season with a 1-0 victory over Crewe.
U’s boss Karl Robinson made several changes from the side that saw off Charlton at the weekend, but the defence remained the same with Ryan Williams continuing as a makeshift right-back.
Injuries
However, Williams was one of three players to be substituted off with knocks during the game. Firstly, Nathan Holland was replaced after just 15 minutes before Williams became the club’s latest addition on the injury list. With 15 minutes remaining, Billy Bodin was the third and final casualty of the evening.
Of course, there will be knocks throughout the course of the season and, at the time of writing, the severity of the three injuries are unknown. One positive is that, in the attacking areas, Robinson has an abundance of cover but with Williams filling in at right-back, that is four players who can play in the role all sidelined.
First Clean Sheet
Four games in, Oxford will be relatively pleased with their defensive efforts so far. Having lost Josh Ruffles and Rob Atkinson in the summer, it could have taken time for a new-look back four to gel, particularly with the other two of last season’s regular starters also sidelined.
This season, the U’s have conceded just three goals. Two of those have come from the penalty spot and the other an own goal against Burton. For a makeshift back four to have kept teams at bay from open play and now keep a clean sheet is testament to how they have performed so far.
Goals From Midfield
Last season, Oxford scored 92 goals in all competitions, but just four of those came from central midfielders. Elliot Lee and James Henry added 13 but were often deployed out wide or further forward while Mide Shodipo and Brandon Barker also added 15 goals.
However, in just four games this season, there have been five different scorers and four of them have come from midfielders and wingers. Left-back Steve Seddon netted the first of the season before winger Nathan Holland scored at Burton. Ryan Williams, who is a winger but played as a right-back when he netted against Charlton, and Cameron Brannagan were on target before Henry finished from the penalty spot against Crewe.
