JOSH McEachran says Oxford United need to look at switching up their playing style in certain games after a sobering defeat on the opening day of the season.
First half goals from Jack Lankester and Gassan Ahadme ensured home side Cambridge United collected all three points as the Sky Bet League One campaign got underway.
For Oxford-born summer signing McEachran, the result marked a miserable debut.
SEE ALSO: What did we learn from Oxford United’s opening day defeat?
He said: “We’re all gutted in there coming off the back of a real good pre-season.
“To lose 2-0 in the manner we did woke us up a little bit because it’s going to be a competitive league.
“We need to park that up now and move on, and make things right on Wednesday night and then Carlisle on Saturday.
“Coming to a place like this, we knew it was going to be a battle.
“They play a lot of long balls and second balls, and then we gifted them the early goal.
“From there, we didn’t really get going and we knew how compact the pitch is – they make it difficult and being 1-0 down, it was tough.”
The former Chelsea academy graduate suggested he and his teammates may have to adjust their way of playing when coming up against some of the second tier’s more robust and well-organised sides.
The 30-year-old midfielder said: “It’s tough how compact they are but I thought we were a little bit predictable with the way we played, and I think we do need to switch it up a little bit.
“We’re not going to go away from the way we play. We all know the plan, I think it was just the basics that let us down.
“As a group, we need to do better, and personally, I know there’s a lot more to come from me.
“We need to look at the positives and negatives going into next week.”
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About the author
To sign up to Liam’s latest Oxford United newsletter for free, click here: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/newsletters/
Formerly the politics reporter for the Oxford Mail, Liam now covers all things Oxford United.
Liam attends the U’s home and away, as well as covering other big sports stories across the county.
His Oxford United newsletter is released every Saturday morning at 6am.
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