Manning addresses Bristol City speculation and Oxford United's FA Cup win

He may well be close to being confirmed as Bristol City’s new head coach, but Oxford United’s manager Liam Manning was doing his best to deflect questions away from the subject after the U’s 2-0 win over Maidenhead United in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The U’s progressed to the second round of the competition despite a less than convincing display against Alan Devonshire’s National League outfit. They’ll play either Slough Town or Grimsby Town at the Kassam Stadium in the next round.

Challenged on whether he’d had any contact with Bristol City - or if he was interested in the vacant role - Manning said: “I’ve not heard anything.

“I don’t want to detract from today. Today is about the team. I’ve heard nothing. I’ve never chased anything. There’s nothing (no approach) that I’m aware of. It’s like transfers, I don’t see the point in getting involved in hypothetical conversations.”

Manning was keener to stick to what he’d just seen on the pitch, where the U’s had beaten Maidenhead with a brace of goals from striker Billy Bodin. He said that putting their name in the hat was most important thing after a rather tepid and unconvincing display from the League 1 side.

“At the start of the second half I thought they had a few moments,” he said. “But I thought if anything was going to happen it would come from a mistake from us. They had a solid 10 minutes at the start of the second half but naturally so. It’s a big game for them, coming here against League 1 opposition.

“Credit to them, I thought in terms of their organisation, their honesty, how hard they worked and competed, I take my hat off to them. The big bit is we wish them all the best in their season ahead. But I felt like as the second half went on, we started to take control of the ball.

“Of course, everyone wants you to go and score three or four or five or six, but if you’ve got the ball and possession what they can’t do is score. It was just finding that balance and managing the game.

“There were two aspects to the game. The performance and the result. When it comes to knock out competitions like the FA Cup, it’s about making sure the result comes first. The lads are disappointed (with how they played) which is probably a positive thing for me. They know they’ve got extra levels they’re capable of getting to and hitting but my thing is we’re in the next round so let’s not beat ourselves up. We’ve had a strong week, getting three points on Tuesday and backing it up today.”

On changes in personnel he made for the first-round tie against a team 66 league places below them, he added: “I understand that it takes players a bit of time to get back in the rhythm. There were moments of good play, but I also know what we’re capable of and we can hit higher levels than that. I don’t want to put a dampener on it.

“I think the most important thing today was getting through. I think if you look at the scores today there will be some upsets. What do you want to do, do you want to perform perfectly and get knocked out or do you want to find a way to win like we’ve done.

“We’ve got the depth and the competition, and we need everybody to be all in, putting the team first.

“He’s in a good place Bill (Bodin) so touch wood he stays fit. He’s a terrific footballer and has a great brain and a great feel for the ball. He’s massive in terms of the personality he brings to the changing room and I’m going to challenge him to score even more goals. For the quality he has got, for me he should be hitting double figures this season.”