DES Buckingham believed there were some promising moments after partnering Will Goodwin and Mark Harris for the first time, although more work is required.
Harris was the only striker for Oxford United against Wycombe Wanderers at the start of the match. Goodwin, who came on for Josh Murphy before halftime, then partnered Harris up forward.
It meant that instead of playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation, the U’s adopted a 4-4-2 one.
Ruben Rodrigues shifted to the left, and Tyler Goodrham moved to the right, floating infield to give Greg Leigh greater room to bomb from left back.
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“When you come here and see the physical size of this team, they play to those strengths a lot,” United head coach Buckingham stated.
Mark Harris won’t be moved out wide; instead, we’ll clearly aim to win.
“I believed that having Will participate would provide us with a stage on which to compete, whether it be on foot or in the air.
“We also knew that Ruben could roll inside and still play as a 10 when we had possession if we played him out on the left.
Billy Bodin and Tyler Goodrham were requested to ensure that the other side was wide enough.
“The goal was to see if Goodwin and Harris could play together, and while there were some positive aspects, there are still certain aspects that require improvement.”
When asked about Goodwin and Harris’s future collaboration, Buckingham responded, “We need to get him [Goodwin] match-fit first.”
We gave him 45 minutes last weekend after giving him 30 minutes the previous weekend. We’ll check to see whether he responded well to that, and then we’ll have to make a decision again because it will be Tuesday through Saturday.
“I’d like to think he would be available for Tuesday, but I’ll rely on the medical advice.”
“He will get better and a stronger partnership will form the more he plays.”
