Oxford United: Matt Bloomfield hints at summer changes

The U’s were defeated 2-0 by the promotion-chasing Lions at The Den, Alex Neil’s men missing out on automatic promotion to the Premier League despite their victory.

Oxford were relegated before their penultimate match of the season before beating Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 last weekend.

After defeat in London, Bloomfield commented on the squad’s status for next season in League One.

“I cannot wait to get working, to get building, to get moving forward,” the 42-year-old declared.

“There’s a lot for us to do.

(Image: Oxford United)

“We’ve got the nucleus of a really good squad for League One.

“We’ve got some real good young players who are going to help complement the seniors.

“We still know there’s going to be a lot to do because [success] doesn’t just happen.

“I’ll be back into work on Tuesday morning. There’s obviously lots of conversations to be had with loan players returning, with lads who are either under contract or out of contract.

” There’s lots for us to work through and the only way it’s possible is just to get on with it. We’ve got to do it this week.

Oxford United’s Jeon Jin-woo stretches against Millwall (Image: Oxford United)

 “Ed [Waldron] and I have been doing a lot this week already and that will continue this week moving forward.

“We’ve got to make sure that we’re putting the building blocks in place.

“The end of the season is always really unsettling, especially when you change divisions.

“I’ve learned a lot, especially in this last week, about what we need to do moving forward.”

Bloomfield lamented the two goals that Oxford conceded on Saturday, Femi Azeez the scorer of both.

“The counter-attack from the first one I’m so disappointed with,” the United boss continued.

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“It’s our free-kick, the ball ends up in the back of our net. There’s some things we need to go over in the summer and adjust because we need to be a winning team next year more often than what we’ve been in the last two years.

“I think that’s probably the biggest disappointment for me right now; the fact that we’ve come up against such a good team and such a big day for them, yet you’re looking at both goals saying they’re both so preventable.”

Bloomfield remained firm when questioned on his position at head coach for next season.

“I’m excited for next season. I’ve not been told anything to the contrary, so I keep working.”