Oxford United assistant Chris Hogg previews MK Dons’ reunion

Hogg and Manning were sacked by the Dons in December after a slow start to the 2022/23 season.

This comes after a promising 2021/22 season, which saw the duo lead the Buckinghamshire side to third place in Sky Bet League One.

The Dons were subsequently beaten 2–1 on aggregate by Wycombe Wanderers in the play-off semi-finals, but the team were applauded for their entertaining style of play.

Managers Hogg and Manning then joined United in March, guiding the club to safety in the Third Division.

The U’s have started this campaign and after a promising opening seven games, they sit third in League One and just one point off the top spot. Before United return home to Championship leaders Exeter City on Saturday, Hogg and Manning, along with goalkeeping coach Lewis Price, must prepare for a reunion with the Dons in the EFL Trophy.

Hogg said:
“It’s about being professional, doing your job and trying to stay up to date with this information.

“Of course people will look at it with the manager, me and Pricey have been there before.

“We have great memories and worked with some brilliant players when we were there, but football is football, it’s Oxford United now and we do the job properly and make sure that we prepare the guys the best we can and compete their best.” about their abilities.

“It’s just another football match. We’ll see some of the faces we know, but I always say that when you leave, you’ll cherish the memories and be grateful for some of the relationships we had with our fans back then. .

The U’s won their opening match in Group F of the EFL Trophy earlier this month, winning 3-1 against Northampton Town.

After Saturday’s 3-0 win over Fleetwood Town in League One, the players are likely to be rested again, and Hogg wants to see who comes on with a winning mindset.

“This is a game to try and maintain a winning mentality in the group,” he said.

“In the last game against Northampton the boys came on and did really well and continued some of the work we were doing.

“A lot of what we’re trying to build here is team first and we’re trying to build a culture all together. “This will be an opportunity to see some of these boys again. I hope you’ll see the boys performing with smiles on their faces and working as hard as possible.

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MK Dons head coach Graham Alexander said he felt the team lacked the necessary qualities to win their match against Stockport County.

Alexander was speaking as the Dons suffered a 2-1 defeat to Stockport, who became the first away team to win a match at mk Stadium this season.

Speaking after the match, Alexander said the Dons lacked quality throughout the break, especially before the break, and admitted the team did not do enough to win.

He said: “The first half cost us dearly. There’s no intensity, no pace, no commitment to what we’ve been doing lately. We didn’t play well enough in the first half and then the game was lost.

He then added: “We can’t lie to anyone and think we deserved anything in today’s match. The way we started was very slow, we touched too much and delayed everything. We didn’t think so and that’s what you get. If you are not committed to professional football as much as you should be, you will be defeated. This is something I haven’t seen since