Cameron Brannagan ‘lucky’ despite ‘perfect’ Oxford United strike

The U’s captain directed the ball into the bottom left corner with a sweet finish to give his side a second at Meadow Lane.

Oxford had hit on the counter attack after a period of pressure from the hosts, Luka Lynch sprinting up the pitch with the ball before playing a lovely pass to the skipper.

The goal was Brannagan’s second of the season after notching away at Stevenage in August.

Speaking to the media after the match in Nottingham, the 30-year-old said: “I’ll be honest, I was putting my head down and sprinting at one stage.

“I was probably thinking about stopping, but luckily enough I carried on.

“To be honest, when I got there, my legs had gone. So I just thought, ‘I’m going to hit it as hard as I can’, and luckily enough, it went where it did.

Oxford United captain Cameron Brannagan (Image: Darrell Fisher)

“I was done in when I got there.

“I just about made it to the fans,” he joked.

The former Liverpool midfielder continued: “It was fantastic.

“From front to back, we were great.

“We’re going to need that all season because it’s a tough old league at times, especially when you’ve got to grind out results.

“It’s a good three points away from home.”

Oxford maintained the majority of the possession in the first period before the percentage evened out to 50 per cent over the course of the 90 minutes.

“First half, we controlled the ball very well.

“Second half, obviously, they had their spell.

“The gaffer mentioned it in [the changing room], I think the big thing today was off the ball.

“The way we were, it was hard to beat and aggressive in all certain situations.

“Off the ball was fantastic today and we need to keep that to get the right results.”

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Alongside Brannagan in midfield were Louie Sibley and Tyler Goodrham, a different partnership to Kai Andrews and Jamie McDonnell who started the previous League One fixture with the Yellows captain.

With McDonnell out for a number of weeks with a hamstring injury and Andrews featuring off the bench following a busy international break with the Wales Under-21s, names in the midfield have chopped and changed in the early stages of the season.

“We’ve got a great squad,” Brannagan admitted.

“It’s a shame to see Jamie go down with a hamstring [injury].

“People have stepped in and been fantastic. It’s been enjoyable.

“We work on different things every day and how we can improve.

“We’re going to need everybody in the squad.

“There’ll be young lads that get more minutes because we’re going to need everybody.”