Oxford United boss makes key demand that will resonate with Hull City fans

Des Buckingham has called on his Oxford United side to get back to basics as he looks to bounce back to Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Swansea City against Hull City this evening.

Oxford's proud six-game unbeaten record at the Kassam Stadium was ended by the Swans, who were 2-1 winners, with Buckingham admitting his newly-promoted side got exactly what they deserved.

They'll face a City side smarting from a fifth game without victory, and one booed off by their own supporters following their 1-1 draw with Portsmouth, and fans calling for Tim Walter to be sacked.

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City fans have bemoaned Walter's style of play, and Buckingham is keen to see his United side not overcomplicate things on the pitch, and focus on doing the basics, well.

“You can go as complicated as you want on tactics and set-ups, but I think it’s really important when you strip it all back, you have to do the basic stuff well. The basic stuff is control, passing, quality of movement and timing of movement. They’re for me the basing things in football," he said.

“I don’t think we started well and that didn’t help us grow into any momentum in the game, but when we did in the first half, we had three or four really good moments where we managed to get up the pitch and through onto their goal.

“We had a couple of moments in the second half where we did it. That’s probably the frustrating thing. We know we can, it’s making sure those basics are done well first, to allow us to do the rest.”

Speaking about Saturday's defeat to Swansea, Buckingham believes he will get a response from his side after seeing their unbeaten home record ended. “That’s the disappointing thing. We are so much better than what we’ve just shown there," he continued.

“We need to start the game a hell of a lot better than we did, and make sure we believe that we’re good enough to do what we do at this level. That’s what I want to see, and that’s what we will see on Tuesday. We’ve had a really good six to eight months. This club has been on the up, and this is a challenge.

“We knew this year was going to be a challenge. It’s making sure that when we hit these challenges, that we’re clear on what we do and how we do it. We don’t get carried away and we don’t lose ourselves in these moments, and that’s what I’ve just said in there.

“We will lose games of football, but we’re not losing them that way, no way, not while I’m here. We have to make sure that how we turn up Monday to get ready for Tuesday, we’re in a much better place than we were (against Swansea). We’re a closed group, a together group, and we’re clear on what we’re doing. We’ll make sure that we address what we need to address, and we’ll be back Tuesday to put on a good performance.

“It’s been a really good six to eight months, where it’s not gone our way, but we’ve rightly deserved what we’ve got. In this league, you get what you deserve. If you don’t do the basic stuff right, you’re not going to put yourself in the best space.”

On facing City, Buckingham reiterated the thoughts of many others in his position, saying the Tigers were unlike anything else in the Championship.

“They’re very fluid with their movement. They’ve got some real ideas in how they want to play the game, which are very different to any other team I’ve seen in this league," he said. "They’re very free-flowing, both in terms of the ball, but also their positions, especially when they build up the pitch.

“That’s something we have to be aware of, and it’s another challenge we will prepare ourselves for. You can see what they’re trying to do, and you see when it comes together, how effective it can be. But at the same time, when teams see what you’re doing, they try and put a stop to that. We’ve seen that this year when we’ve stopped teams doing one thing, they do another.

“It’s making sure that as a head coach, you get the time to implement your ideas and for people to understand them. Then it’s making sure you adapt and evolve your ideas because if you’ve only got one way of doing something, it becomes very predictable.

“They didn’t get off to the start they wanted, then it really came together for them, and they played some really good football. It’s similar to us. Everyone is still finding their way to an extent. When they play the way they seem to want to, it’s very dangerous and really causes any team in the league a problem.

“I’m just focusing on us for this game. It’s about making sure we respond. We can be disappointed with Saturday, but what we can’t do is try and make up for that. What we can do is make sure we go about our business in a much better way, and that’s what we’re all trying to do.

“We will never pay all of our attention to the opposition. We’ll give them the respect they deserve and set up for what we think we may face, but all of the time has been on what we want to do and how we want to go about what we do, both with the ball firstly, and then making sure we’re prepared for what we face out of possession.”