We are without a game today which means a rare free weekend for the players.

Not for the staff though. We will be off around the country watching matches and seeing what we can find out about teams we have to play between now and the end of the season.

We made a decision not to bring the players in to train today.

They have worked hard this week so let them have some time with their families but also let them recover after what has been a really positive but very intense week of training.

I have really enjoyed being out there and being able to work on things in much more depth than you usually can when you first come into a club.

Much of what we do at the back end of a normal week is ‘match specific’ and focussed on winning that weekend’s game.

Everything usually builds towards 3pm on Saturday but instead we have been able to keep the intensity high but also work on specific things and how we want to set up and play.

There were glimpses of that at Morecambe on Saturday but ultimately we weren’t able to convert the good things into a win.

It felt like a defeat didn’t it!

I was able to watch the game back on the team bus home and confirm what I thought at the time, that we worked hard, we had a lot of the ball and that we did enough to win.

It was frustrating not to see it through but we got a point away from home, we stopped a run of defeats and we made a step forward.

Not the big step we all hoped for but certainly one in the right direction.

It gave us something to build from.

The attitude is there, the work ethic is good throughout the club and we now have nine games left and a very clear picture both of where we stand at the moment and where we need to get to.

It has been nice to get around the city and the local towns this week while we try and find somewhere to live in the area. 

I think it’s important to be local and to know a bit about the city you represent so my wife and I have been house-hunting around Oxford. 

What a beautiful area this is, and the prices certainly reflect that! 

But everywhere we go there seem to be Oxford fans wanting to talk about the club and how long they have been going to games with their own families. 

That’s great to hear and I think I maybe underestimated just how much the club means to people all across Oxfordshire. 

Thank you to everyone who has wished us well or made us feel so welcome. 

Hopefully it won’t be too long until we find a place and can really feel part of it all.