What Oxford United manager Karl Robinson said about Bristol Rovers ahead of League One clash

Oxford United manager Karl Robinson believes there are similarities between his side and Bristol Rovers ahead of their crunch-clash at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.

The Gas travel to Oxfordshire to face the U’s at lunchtime on Saturday, as per a request from the Thames Valley Police made last month. Both sides are out of form and are at the lower end of the League One table, but have enough distance for the time being from the drop zone.

Rovers and Oxford, two teams that are not separated too far from one another in a geographical sense, have both lost six of their last seven matches, and that is how long their winless run has gone on for.

"There’s a fragility to any team that loses games and there’s a reason why that is the case," began Robinson. "Bristol are in the same situation as us and so are Cambridge. You know how difficult it is when you find yourself in that moment. Arguably when you’re in these situations, it’s only yourself you can look at to make sure you can prove a point and move forward.

"I think the game at the weekend is against a team that are very well-organised. I watched their game against Burton and Joey will be fuming because obviously, I think they certainly had two or three of the best chances after they scored the first one to go 1-0 up. In the first 15 minutes, I thought they were very good, and the questions they asked of the opposition."

"Burton’s first goal arose through a chance three yards out and a long ball. I actually thought he was offside by looking at the camera. When you’re in these positions sometimes everything seems to go against you. We’ve got to make sure we put our front forward. It is the responsibility, we accept and embrace the responsibility."

Earlier this week, it was reported that Oxford for the time being was not considering parting ways with Robinson, despite their run of bad form. In a passionate post-match interview after their latest defeat, he insisted he was the right man to lead the club forward, and that even promotion would be a possibility under his stewardship. The former MK Dons boss however relishes the pressure and says there is a demand to deliver a result on Saturday for his supporters.

He said: "Pressure is part and parcel of the industry and you’ve just got to deal with that. It doesn’t matter who you are, at any level of English football, the pressure is important because it’s important to the fans. No matter whether there are 50,000 fans, 10,000, or 2,000, no matter how many people follow you, you’ve got to put a performance on and find a way of winning."