Oxford United’s Jordan Thorniley on Bristol City tie in Carabao Cup

United make the trip to second tier Bristol City in the first round of the Carabao Cup this evening, looking for a response after losing at Cambridge United on Saturday.

Thorniley, in his second spell with the U’s after joining on a permanent deal this summer, is eyeing an immediate reaction from his teammates.

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He said: “Good cup runs can build up a good winning mentality and competition for places.

“Managers tend to make changes in cup games, to give lads that maybe they want to see a bit more of or give a chance to, or try and get a reaction out of certain people.”

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Reflecting on the Cambridge result, Thorniley said: “It’s a long season, results like that will happen and they’ll happen to other teams as well.

“You can’t sulk about it, you’ve got to get up and go again, and put it right in the next few games.

“There are new faces in still trying to get used to the style of play and the lads that were here last year will also be learning still.

“It’s a process and you’ve seen it work when we played QPR and Swansea.

“I know they’re pre-season games but you can see elements of it working.

“It’s about learning and developing, and nailing down what our jobs are in the system, and hopefully we’ll have more results like the ones in pre-season than the one on Saturday.”

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