I don’t really want to rake over the dying embers of Tuesday night’s game against Crewe too much.

One thing I have learnt is to move on quickly and focus on the next match, whether you have been brilliant or massively underperformed.

I think we all know which of those happened on Tuesday!

So, how do you use that and turn it into a positive?

I wasn’t angry in the dressing room after because the players knew they had been poor.

I was calm and analytical and the next day we all came in and we held meetings with all of the players.

Matty Taylor: Oxford United must be better at the dark arts

They took turns to step out of the recovery sessions and gym work they were doing, just to talk things through and try to make it a two-way conversation.

The hurt they felt was obvious and to a man they gave me the same message; we haven’t been good enough or consistent enough so far this season and we will do everything we possibly can to get it right.

I think the world of this set of players and staff and now we have to turn those words in to performances.

Wigan is a tough place to prove a point, but in a funny way it’s exactly the sort of challenge we do need right now.

The same goes for Portsmouth away on Tuesday, or a local derby against Swindon next Saturday.

Words are easy; show me on the pitch that we can get results consistently.

I’ve written here a few times this season that we have sometimes played well and not got our reward for it.

So now let’s regroup, refocus and make sure we fight for every ball, play our own game and give supporters something to smile about at home.

Read also: Oxford United hold clear-the-air talks after Crewe defeat

This week has seen Dave Pritchard leave the Oxford Mail and I wanted to place on record my thanks and appreciation for all that he has done, not just for the newspaper but also for sport across Oxfordshire.

When I first arrived someone told me that the club’s relationship with the Mail is almost unique.

“We are one of the few cities left with a daily newspaper and they help us as much as we help them” I was told.

“Pritch will criticise you when it’s deserved, but praise you in the good times just as much.”

That has proved to be the case and he is one of the nicest, hardest-working journalists you would ever wish to meet.

He writes extremely well, but occasionally I would disagree with something he had come up with.

We would discuss that face to face and once he had accepted I was right we’d move on!

In James Roberts, the Mail have a ready-made replacement, but he has a lot to live up to and on behalf of the staff, the management and the players we want to thank Pritch and wish him all the best on his new adventure.

In line with his own standards, we’ll give him four stars out of five as a mark, even when he deserves a lot more…