Archived News from September 2003
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CURLE AND ATKINS REACTION
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Audio interview with Keith Curle from Radio Nottingham (RealPlayer needed) http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/realmedia/football/2004/stags_oxford_away_curle.ram ----------- CURLE HAPPY - AND THOUGHT STAGS COULD HAVE WON Evening Post website Mansfield boss Keith Curle was delighted with the respect that table-topping Oxford showed his team, and thought they could have come away with all three points. "They are top of the League, but we came here to give them a game, and I thought they were wary of us from the start when they decided to play an extra defender instead of their usual back four", Curle said. "A lot of teams will now say if we let Mansfield Town play we will get beaten. So they will flood their midfield or play the extra defender, which will also take away from their attacking ploys. "When you consider we have three players out injured, two suspended, and one out on loan, there are still six first team players waiting in the wings. "We have a small squad, but I have said from the start of the season that we have quality rather than quantity. "I thought Rhys Day pinched it for us at the end. It was a great opportunity and we do work hard at getting certain players into certain positions. ----------- Official Oxford website: Atkins: "You can't win them all" Ian Atkins was pleased to keep the unbeaten run going today as the U's stayed top of the table after a 1-1 draw with Mansfield. Ian told us: "You can't win them all and that's three out of four very difficult games at home. It was disappointing to work hard, get our noses in front with a lovely set piece and then to concede a goal that wasn't really created. "People today maybe didn't stick to what we asked them to do or grasp what I wanted from them. That cost us two points but I did think we created chances again today. Mansfield are a very good side coming forward and they were up for it today. Home or away you've got to grind results out and for the first thirty minutes Mansfield shaded it. Then we got better and fifteen minutes from half time we started to win more ball and then create more chances. "We've got to win more ball in midfield than we have been doing. There is no divine right to beat anybody. Sometimes after a good run you think you're invincible and have only got to turn up, but that's not right. "We scored a goal and had good chances before that but then we started to go backwards instead of coming forwards. But there were a lot of very good things today and we are progressing, it's just that in this division you have to learn the hard way." |
Latest | September 2003