‘Wonderful atmosphere’: Oxford United boss lauds emerging from Fortress Fratton with Portsmouth result

The Oxford United boss was more than satisfied to come away from PO4 with a 1-1 draw, after Louie Sibley cancelled out Mark O’Mahony’s header 18 minutes from time.

The result continues a strong start to the Championship season for the U’s after their play-off success last term, with the U’s sat comfortably in 10th place.

It’s Oxford’s third draw on the spin after sharing spoils with Burnley and Luton, off the back of three wins from the opening five league games.

Buckingham told the Oxford Mail: ‘I’m happy with that. Of the nine games we’ve played, we knew this week was going to be a tough run-in.

‘We managed to get points from both of those former Premier League sides, and then we knew coming here, especially after watching them on Wednesday, the reaction they would try to give.

‘It was a wonderful atmosphere, and the crowd tried to get behind them to keep going. It’s now making sure that on the road, we pick up points and hopefully that transfers to our home form, which will put us in a good space.’

It was a big afternoon for Josh Murphy as he went up against the side he left in the summer, following a season which culminated in his two goals putting Bolton to the sword in the play-off final.

There was some consternation from Oxford fans at the 29-year-old not signing a new deal at the Kassam Stadium, but there was still appreciation from the away end towards him on the final whistle.

Buckingham added: ‘You talk about the culture and the environment around this club, and I think anywhere that you go, you do a lot of work to bring people to your club, and you sell them what that looks like.

‘You look after them to the best of your ability while they’re with you, and you hope they do the same, and then I think it’s important you do the same at the end whatever the end looks like.

‘That for me when you look back at what Josh allowed us to go on and do last year, was a massive contribution to us winning and getting through the play-offs, and winning at Wembley.

‘He didn’t really have a chance to say thank you to the fans, and for them to send him off.

‘That’s the type of club we want to be. What he’s done is allow us to be where we are, and he contributed towards that.

‘It was only right that we took him over and full credit to our fans, who have given him a really good clap and a really good send-off, and it was a nice way to close that off.”

‘They’re both very good players. Josh is a really good attacking player and PK is a very good defensive player.

‘It was a wonderful match-up and I think you saw that throughout the whole 90 minutes.’