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I wanted to move closer to home really, the gaffer and his wife showed us round the area – schools and that – and it's the first time a club had done that for me. I was really impressed, and it's been easy to settle in. The lads have been great as well, it was good to get out to Holland for a week. We were really in each others pockets but it really helped with the bonding – there is a great team spirit between the lads.
And what about the pre-season games?
Pre-season has gone really well, ask but any footballer and they’ll say they hate it. The first two weeks were the hardest, but we've been building up and in the games so far we’ve played the ball about well and the performances have improved.
Okay, so what's the aim for this season?
It is vital we build on that in the opening games of the season now, we need to make sure we’re still up there after ten or fifteen games. Last season the club struggled, but that was unusual for us. This season there is no reason we can't win promotion, there’s no point even starting off if you’ve not got belief in your own abilities.
Watching from outside, what went wrong for us last year?
Last season the side condeded too many goals! I wouldn't say that I'm going to change that, but if we all work hard then we'll concede less goals and score more at the other end – if we do that then we’ll be up there.
Oxford looked certs for promotion last season, what went wrong?
It was a combination of things that lead to us being in the play-offs, which was a disaster. It wasn't helped by 22 players being out of contract, we all went to the chairman after Christmas to sort it out but nothing happened. Ultimately it all caught up with the side.
Finally, you took penalties at Oxford. Will you be after them here?
Well Beags takes them doesn't he, so I don't think I'll get them off him. But if he’s off the pitch for whatever reason then I'll be happy to step up for one yeah.
Our thanks to Andy for taking the time out to talk to us. And to Dave Beeby at SUFC, a version of this interview appeared in Saturday's matchday programme.