Oxford United coach opens up on ‘important’ Wales decision

Gunter joined the U’s in the summer alongside new head coach and former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey, and continued his coaching role with the Welsh youth setup until last month.

The 37-year-old has stayed at the club during the international break, with Oxford set to travel to Exeter City on Tuesday evening in the Jersey Mike’s Trophy.

Fellow assistant Tom Hutton has also remained with the club who currently lie 10th in League One.

Ahead of the Trophy clash with the Grecians, Gunter opened up on his decision to commit to the Yellows.

“There was obviously the conversation in the summer when I joined the club and as the weeks went by and the schedule was spoken about; there was a decision that was important to me and to this club as well,” Ramsey’s assistant, who earned 109 caps for his country, explained.

“This is my main focus and an important period of time coming up for the team. So to go away and miss seven to 10 days at this stage wasn’t one I thought was best.

“Full respect to the way both the FAW and the club handled it.

Chris Gunter, the former Wales international right-back, is now assistant head coach at Oxford United (Image: Oxford Utd)

“I wish all the boys that I’ve left behind in that age group really well.

“They’ll be absolutely fine, they’ve got good people around them but it was important for me to be around the club every day.”

The trip to St James Park is the first EFL Trophy fixture of the season for the U’s who have also drawn Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s and League Two side Cheltenham Town.

Gunter insists that the team will treat the competition the same as they would with the league.

READ MORE: Oxford City boss hails ‘unbelievable’ Forestieri signing

READ MORE: Oxford United star Ciaron Brown bags Northern Ireland brace

“I can honestly say that we haven’t prepared for this game any different than the last league game or what we’ll do for next Saturday.

“But also in that we didn’t do that in pre-season and any game that we play is important.

“The manager spoke to the squad today around some of the things that we want to do but his first and final message to them was this is a game that we’re going to do exactly what we do every other week.

“It’s an important one for us and whoever’s on the pitch and, whatever it looks like, it’s an important one because whatever game of football, any competition you’re in, we want to do really well and tomorrow night is no different.

“We’ve also had two weeks without a game and it’s a real good opportunity now before we get to the weekend to blow some of the cobwebs out and make sure we’re ready to go on Saturday.

“But honestly if he was inside the training ground you wouldn’t know if it was a cup game or a league game.”