Oxford United caretaker-manager Craig Short believes stronger sides than the U’s will get blown away at Portman Road this season.

Short was pleased with the way the Championship’s third-bottom side responded to going behind having been concerned that once that happened, the Blues might win at a canter.

However, that never looked on the cards and Short, in his fourth spell as temporary boss of the Yellows, even had hopes of grabbing a point in the second half.

“I wanted just a performance from the players. We dipped out in the Swansea game [a 1-0 home defeat], in the Southampton game [a 1-0 home win] we got a little bit of luck, Jamie [Cumming] made saves, we had a bit of magic from Stan Mills.

“Today, coming to a team probably in better form, a stronger side, you’re fearful that if we had a setback we’d go under.

“But it was all about defending and shape, being patient, trying to get a mid-block right and then if we had an opportunity, I know we’ve got threats.

“But when we concede, I said to the lads, this is going to be a big test for you, if you concede, how are you going to respond? And I was really, really pleased with how they responded getting the goal. Then I was thinking, ‘can we drag it through to half-time?’.

“Conceding a few minutes later when we had a bit of control, had started to get on the ball a little bit, the confidence seemed to grow with them and I know that a place like this where the supporters are full of expectation and think they’re just going to blow us away, we didn’t get blown away, and that was what I was pleased about.

“In the second half, we hung in there. I said 15 minutes in, don’t concede, don’t give them cheap efforts at goal.

“Yes, Jamie made saves again, yes, we defended the box, that’s the job. I was really, really pleased how determined we were to keep us in the game and then at the end Stan goes and gets the cross in, Brian [De Keersmaecker] has a chance and you’re thinking in those little moments, alright it’s smash and grab, but that’s what you’ve got to do at a place like this because stronger sides than us will come here and get blown away.”

He added: “I don’t think you’re going to have possession in a place like this if you’re Oxford United. We’re not going to go and press high against Ipswich Town when you’ve had two games in five or six days.

“That was exactly our game plan against Southampton and probably the same against Sheffield United because we have to respect the opposition we’re playing against, there’s millions of pounds worth of talent against us.

“We’ve just come up from League One and the lads are giving us everything. If we go chasing after teams away from home at a place like this, you’d be blown away by half-time.

“You’ve got to accept you’re going to give up some territory, give up some ground, but they were really, really diligent about the work and they know from the Southampton game, we’ve got people like [Przemyslaw] Placheta, people like Stan Mills and Will [Lankshear], who came and got his goal today, so we’ll always be a threat on transition. That’s what this sort of team has to be, really.”

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