Bloomfield proud of relegation battlers Oxfordpublished at 17:47 BST 3 April
17:47 BST 3 April
Image source, Getty Images
Matt Bloomfield was proud of his Oxford United side after they held promotion-chasing Hull City at the Kassam Stadium, even though they remain in the Championship relegation zone.
They now face relegation rivals Portsmouth in a huge relegation clash at Fratton Park on Monday and Bloomfield feels his side cannot be questioned.
"We assess it by saying that we've created multiple opportunities to win the football match," he told BBC Radio Oxford.
"It hasn't gone our way today, but in terms of performance level and endeavour, the way the boys kept creating, kept pressing, kept at it, we can't question them.
"It was obviously very disappointing to go one goal down so early and another team could have possibly wobbled, but our lads are made of sterner stuff, and they kept going.
"Cam stuck the penalty away and we created multiple opportunities. I'm just really disappointed for the lads and for the crowd today because everyone was excellent.
"We played against a very good team, who are five points off the automatic promotion places, and are going to end the season, probably in the play-offs at the very least.
"Yet we've gone toe to toe with them and created enough chances to win the game."
Championship clubs spend more than £69m on agents feespublished at 17:15 BST 1 April
17:15 BST 1 April
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Image caption,
Ipswich signed Sindre Walle Egeli for a club record £17.5m in January
Championship clubs spent just over £69.5m on agents fees over the past 12 months according to figures released by the Football Association,, external an increase of £6m on the previous year.
The figures cover the period from February 2025 with Ipswich Town the top spenders, paying £11.7m having spent the first three months of the accounting period in the Premier League.
Southampton (£8.3m) and Leicester (£5.8m), who were relegated alongside Ipswich are the second and third-highest payers on the list.
Troubled Sheffield Wednesday were the most frugal when dealing with agents, spending £534,559.
Wrexham come in sixth on the list with an outlay of £3.6m while current Championship leaders Coventry spent just short of £1.5m.
Pick of the stats: Oxford United v Hull Citypublished at 10:54 BST 1 April
10:54 BST 1 April
Image source, Opta
Oxford United welcome Hull City for a crucial encounter with ramifications at both ends of the table on Friday (kick-off 15:00 BST).
The U's had been on a four-game unbeaten run (W3 D1) before their defeat to Southampton last time out and are 23rd but just one point adrift of safety.
The play-off chasing Tigers beat bottom side Sheffield Wednesday before the international break but have lost three of their past five games.
Hull are fifth, three points clear of seventh-placed Wrexham and five points behind the automatic promotion places.
Oxford have won just one of their previous six league games against Hull (D1 L4), though it did come in this exact fixture last season (1-0).
Following their 3-2 win in August, Hull are looking to complete their third league double over Oxford United after 1965-66 and 1975-76.
Oxford are unbeaten in their past three home league games (W2 D1), having failed to win (D2 L3) or score in any of their previous five at the Kassam Stadium.
No side has won more away games in the Championship than Hull City this season (10), though the Tigers have lost two of their past three on the road.
Oliver McBurnie has been involved in more goals than any other Championship player this season (20 – 13 goals, 7 assists). He's the first Hull player to reach 20 goal involvements in a Championship campaign since Jarrod Bowen in 2019-20 (23).
Atcheson makes Northern Ireland debut as Donley scorespublished at 10:47 BST 1 April
10:47 BST 1 April
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Blackburn Rovers defender Tom Atcheson made his debut for Northern Ireland on Tuesday after Oxford United forward Jamie Donley opened the scoring during their 1-1 draw with Wales.
The 19-year-old came on in the 80th minute to earn his maiden appearance for the international side after receiving his first senior call-up from boss Michael O'Neill, who manages both Northern Ireland and Rovers.
Atcheson was the only Rovers player to have been named in the squad amid concerns regarding O'Neill's dual role.
Oxford are understood to have raised a complaint of conflict of interest after four of their players were called up for the international side, including goalscorer Donley.
The BBC's 72+ EFL podcast team have taken a look at the Championship relegation picture, with some huge games in store at the end of the international break.
Easter Monday (6 April) sees Blackburn and West Brom face-off, level on points just above the drop zone, just hours after second-bottom Oxford United head to Portsmouth.
Third-bottom Leicester will also head to Portsmouth and Blackburn during the run-in.
Former Watford and Reading winger Jobi McAnuff said: "We know Easter weekend is absolutely pivotal and that Portsmouth v Oxford game is looming large, though they both have another game first (on Good Friday).
"It could genuinely could come down to those matches against the teams in and around you. They are absolutely massive.
"Portsmouth are, at the moment, the team I'd be a little bit concerned about in terms of their current form.
"You take it game by game, of course, but that is 100% one everyone in the squad is looking at going 'we need to win that game - if we are going to stay up that is a must win.'
"This two weeks now for Portsmouth is going to be the longest because it's doom and gloom - (losing) 6-1 against a team on their holidays in QPR (in their final game before the break)."
McAnuff also hailed the impact of interim West Brom boss James Morrison, who has taken eight points from his five games at the helm after replacing Eric Ramsey, winning the past two and only being denied three straight wins by a last-gasp leveller against Southampton.
"The big thing about those games - clean sheets," McAnuff said. "When you are in a battle, being hard to beat is the fundamental thing.
"They were really close against Southampton and got pegged back right in the last couple of minutes. It could have been a killer blow.
"To come back from that and now find those couple of wins, they'll have gone into this break absolutely bouncing. The confidence, that feeling back in the dressing room, is absolutely massive at this stage.
"Massive credit to James Morrison because there were a few eyebrows raised. He knows the club inside out and sometimes that's what it takes.
"At the moment he's had a really positive upturn."
While they remain 23rd, the U's are now just a point from safety with seven games remaining after Bloomfield steered them to 17 points from his 15 games.
Improving the defence has been a key pillar of their improvement with just 16 goals conceded over that period after allowing 35 in their opening 24 matches.
"It's been a really intense period," Bloomfield told the BBC's 72+ EFL podcast. "It's the first opportunity we've really had to reflect on what's gone and what's coming up.
"It's been great since I've been here. We've really had a go in all the games. We've been really good defensively, kept ourselves in games, thrown some punches and got some points on the board.
"We've really evolved the way we're playing, they have been some really positive signs of improvement, particularly over the past five games.
"We're pleased with where we are at but hungry for more improvement to go and get the points we need between now and the end of the season."
While Bloomfield revealed he has not set a points target for survival, based on the unpredictable nature of the division, he said putting together a string of positive days on the training ground, and on the pitch, would be key to their survival.
"There's some good energy," he added. "The lads understand the fight and grit needed to get ourselves out of it. We got a bit of fresh energy in January to add to the experience and senior players we have got - it's a nice blend.
"When you take over mid-season it's all about results. For me it's about trying to create a team that can put as many points on the board as possible between now and the end of the season and doing it in a manner I believe is correct.
"It's all about substance."
In his fourth experience of joining a club mid-season, Bloomfield insisted: "I knew the situation walking into the job, I knew we had a lot of work to do.
"We believe we have enough in the building to do what we need to do between now and the end of the season. The only way we're going to get there is work."
"Football managers are just humans," Bloomfield said. "To meet her parents on the Monday after the tragedy happened on the Saturday and have two heartfelt and emotional home games in the following week - I have to admit I was emotionally drained by the end of the week, but my heart bleeds for her parents.
"I am a father of two daughters myself and it was heart-breaking to see her parents.
"We wanted to make sure we paid our respects in the right manner, on and off the pitch, and I think we did that. Amelia's family will be friends of our club forever."
Bloomfield 'proud' despite disappointing loss published at 19:56 GMT 21 March
19:56 GMT 21 March
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
After defeat at Southampton, Oxford drop to 23rd in the Championship table
Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield said that he was really disappointed after the U's suffered defeat at Southampton.
Cyle Larin scored early before Shea Charles struck from range to give Saints the three points.
Despite the loss, Bloomfield said that he was still proud of the effort shown by his side.
"I'm really disappointed, especially with the second goal, for him to strike from that far away, there's not a huge amount we could have done about that," he told BBC Radio Oxford.
"We came out from a set piece and I'm not sure he'll [Charles] ever score another goal like that, it was an unbelievable strike.
"We had some moments before they've scored, a couple of long throws, some moments in their box and then we found ourselves two goals down but we kept going and I'm proud of the boys for that."
Oxford boss Bloomfield thankful for time to preparepublished at 16:12 GMT 20 March
16:12 GMT 20 March
Image source, Shutterstock
Image caption,
Matt Bloomfield was appointed Oxford head coach in January
Oxford United have used a free week to prepare well for Saturday's Championship match at Southampton (15:00 GMT), according to head coach Matt Bloomfield.
The U's 1-1 draw with Charlton last weekend ended a sequence of three games in six days and extended their unbeaten run to four matches.
"The lads have trained and trained really well. We're obviously working really hard towards the end goal," Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford.
"This week we've had some time on the training ground which we've enjoyed and spent some time with the lads which has been really good."
Oxford are third from bottom in the Championship table but only one point short of safety after winning three of their four past matches.
"We've had the time to focus on it in amongst playing Wednesday and Saturday last week," added Bloomfield.
"You have to be careful how much change you put in because of the time you have to prepare for weeks like that.
"We've had time to prepare for this [game] and we hope top put our best selves out there on Saturday."
Pick of the stats: Southampton v Oxford Unitedpublished at 15:13 GMT 19 March
15:13 GMT 19 March
Southampton and Oxford United will be fighting for points at either end of the Championship table when they meet at St Mary's on Saturday (15:00 GMT).
A win will guarantee the Saints a longer stay in the top six, with Wrexham keen to take back the spot against Sheffield United.
However Oxford are seeking an escape from their predicament. They are one point adrift in the bottom three and they will want to avoid watching the gap extend.
This will be the first time Southampton have hosted Oxford in a league match since November 1987, in a 3-0 home victory for Chris Nicholl's side in the top-flight.
After winning 2-1 in this season's reverse fixture (Boxing Day 2025), Oxford could achieve the league double over Southampton for the first time ever.
Southampton are unbeaten in their last five league games on a Saturday, winning four of them (D1); as many victories as they had in their previous 25 (W4 D7 L14).
Oxford are unbeaten in their three away league games on a Saturday under Matt Bloomfield (W1 D2), after losing five of their first six (W1) in the Championship this season.
Finn Azaz has been directly involved in four goals in three Championship games against Oxford, with all four of those coming in a single game (2 goals, 2 assists in a 6-2 win for Middlesbrough in November 2024).
Do you want VAR in the Championship?published at 08:18 GMT 18 March
08:18 GMT 18 March
Image source, Getty Images
There have been plenty of contentious decisions in the 2025-26 Championship season so far.
Offside goals given, perfectly good goals ruled out, red card offences missed, penalties not given, dubious spot-kicks awarded. You name it.
With the video assistant referee (VAR) only used for the play-off final, the outcome of every second-tier game in the regular season can hinge on how on-field officials see incidents in real time.
Would you want VAR introduced for every league game in the Championship?
If so, why?
And if not, let us know your reasons.
You can share your thoughts on VAR here or comment below, and we will publish a follow-up article soon with a selection of your responses.
Former Oxford defender Ben Purkiss admits Ciaron Brown's decision to pull back Charlton's Lloyd Jones and give away the spot-kick was "odd".
"(Brown) has been exceptional for the entire time they've been in the Championship and prior to that as well, and he's such an experienced player
"It was just odd. For me, their penalty was more of a penalty than ours, and I'm just not sure what he was doing.
"It was silly to say the least, and the impact was two crucial points. This is that time of the season when you're going to come away and say 'how did that happen?'
"How did Blackburn beat Millwall away? Millwall had a man sent off. How did West Brom beat Hull? Hull got a man sent off".
Purkiss adds: "Its crucial at any stage of the season, but absolutely critical right now, but it happens.
"If you look at it in the round, 10 points from 12 is a pretty exceptional return, and it's all to play for".
You can listen to more from Purkiss and the rest of the team in the latest The Dub podcast above or on the club's BBC Sounds page.
Image source, Getty Images
