Mark Venus on tomorrow night's opponents at the Ricoh Arena, Oxford United...
Mark Venus expects to face a tough challenge when the U's make the journey to the Midlands for tomorrow night’s SkyBet League One fixture.
The Sky Blues are set to play back-to-back home games over the next five days as they look to respond to a disappointing defeat on the road at Charlton.
Oxford got the better of high-flying Bradford last weekend, and Venus is expecting a well drilled side. He said: “I am expecting to come up against a team who try and pass the ball, but who are an organised outfit as well.
“They’ve got some talented individuals and they all work hard for each other, so it will be a tight game and we’ll have to be at our best to take anything away from it.
“The table doesn’t lie, after a quarter of the season you can’t just ignore it, but we do have to move on and try and change things for the better. It will take hard work and commitment but these players are capable of that.”
City will come up against ex-Sky Blue Chris Maguire when the two sides meet tomorrow, and the No.10 has seven goals in 15 appearances so far this season.
“Chris is a dangerous player. He can score goals from an attacking midfield position and that is vital for any side that want to be successful.
“We know we have to be careful and limit the threats they have in their side. Chris is one of them, but they also have other players capable of causing us problems if we allow them to.”
He added: “I know Michael Appleton from when he was a youth coach at West Brom so I know his team will be full of commitment, hard work and quality. It is up to us to make it as difficult as possible.”