Oxford United vs Sheffield Wednesday: The Manager's Corner
Sheffield Wednesday fell to another defeat on Saturday afternoon, and Oxford United's Matt Bloomfield praised the supporters afterwards.
Will Lankshear grabbed a brace, Will Vaulks got a third and Myles Peart-Harris scored the fourth in a 4-1 victory, with Owls teenager, Will Grainger, getting a consolation goal for the visitors in between.
It leaves Wednesday needing a victory on the final day against West Bromwich Albion if they’re to achieve their goal of reaching zero points, and they’ll need to put on a much-improved performance at Hillsborough if they’re to do so.
Both sets of supporters showed their sense of humour at the Kassam after the hosts saw their relegation confirmed ahead of kick-off, and they received praise from the man in the home dugout.
Here’s some of what the two men in charge had to say after the game:
Matt Bloomfield
Speaking to TWW, the U’s boss said, “I played at Hillsborough when Sheffield Wednesday got promoted (in 2012) and the atmosphere was incredible. The way those guys have supported their team, and the banter between the two sets of supporters today… When you have got a football club in your heart like that you want to support them through thick and thin, and I thought both sets of supporters, in really tough circumstances, were an absolute credit to their football clubs…
“If the day was not going to work out for us (with relegation), like it didn’t, I still wanted us to perform properly and we did so I am at least content with that. There was some real good football in there and some good goals. I hope that is a sign of things to come for us.”
Henrik Pedersen
“This is not the team we want to be,” he said afterwards. “Today we looked tired, we were tired mentally and this showed in the performance. When you are not 100% and you are fatigued, it will show and this happened today. Normally, we are in the game, we are competitive, the players have given absolutely everything but we could not get the performance today…
“They played in a different way to how they have played over the last months. But for me, it is about Sheffield Wednesday and this is not the Sheffield Wednesday we have seen this season.
“It shows when you are not at your 100% best at this level, you will have a problem, and we had problems today. The players now have two days to rest, to recover, and we are back on Tuesday to prepare for West Brom, a game we are desperate to win for our fans, who have been amazing for us this season.”