Robins looking to brush aside Oxford in race for play-offs

Daniel Wales and Charles Hague-Jones preview Oxford United vs. Bristol City.

Transcript

00:00Dan, and Bristol City's next fixture in the Championship, Oxford United away, obviously

00:07a game where Oxford, what a fantastic journey they've been on to reach the Championship

00:12and they actually are probably punching above their weight being able to be, you know, fairly

00:17safe at this point in the season. Obviously, there's still a lot of football to be played.

00:22I mean, you know, it's a game where we've mentioned Bristol City's away form hasn't

00:28been as good as their home. They need to make sure that these are the games that you go

00:32to and you are picking up three points to sort of breach that playoff gap. I mean, it

00:38would take them to 44 points, which is enough at the moment after 29 games to be in the

00:45playoff places. I mean, if they do come away with three points, Bristol City, then it's

00:50a massive achievement. It's a massive boost for the remainder of their season to sort

00:55of reach past that 40 point mark and, you know, try and make that playoff push. How

01:00important is this game? What's the feeling going into this game from Liam Manning's side?

01:04Clearly confidence after the win they had against Blackburn Rovers at the weekend.

01:09Oxford, as you rightly say, are doing really well this season. You know, not expected to be a

01:15challenger towards the top of the league, but they're certainly comfortably at the moment,

01:19at least, away from relegation, which for a club of their size and their

01:22punching power is really quite commendable for them. So for Bristol City, though, it's a game

01:30where, as we've mentioned on a number of occasions, they need to improve their waveform. So

01:36given the performance they've just put in at home against Blackburn, they've got to go and then back

01:39this up against an Oxford side who, yes, as we've just said, are doing relatively well for a club

01:45of their size and stature in the championship, but Bristol City need to go there and win,

01:49or at least get something. They can't afford to be going there and dropping too many points. I mean,

01:56I know I've just said go and get something, but even a draw, I think, at this stage

02:00and after that performance against Blackburn would feel like a bit of a disappointment,

02:03and especially if they do the very much the Bristol City thing of leading and then giving

02:09up points, as they have done on a number of occasions this season towards the end of the

02:13game. So they just need to go there and make it as comfortable for themselves as possible,

02:17really. That's what they have to do. It's just a case of where, yes, they know Oxford are a decent

02:23side. They will pose a threat. There's no real easy games in this league in the championship, but

02:28Bristol City, if they have that ambition, which they claim they do, of getting into the playoffs,

02:34they've just got to go there and assert their dominance, show their quality. Yes, teams

02:40around them will lose other games like this across the season, and so will they, but

02:46it's one where, because of their ambitions, they have to at least show, at least show,

02:52that they are there or thereabouts, because if they don't, then it just sort of,

02:56it means that all the work against Blackburn was for nothing.