Craig Short hails Stan Mills for his late goal in Oxford win over Southampton

Oxford caretaker boss Craig Short praised match-winner Stan Mills for his superb late goal in the 2-1 defeat of Southampton.

Recalled midfielder Tyler Goodrham rifled the U’s in front in the 23rd minute with a thumping drive from 20 yards as Saints struggled to clear a corner.

Southampton levelled six minutes later when centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed Leo Scienza’s free-kick from the right past Jamie Cumming and into the bottom left corner of the net.

The match looked destined to finish as a draw but Mills had other ideas, running with the ball 50 yards, taking a return pass from Will Lankshear, then hitting a low angled shot under keeper Gavin Bazunu.

Short said: “Stan’s obviously got the pedigree – his dad (Danny) was a great athlete, and his brother (George).

“I get a little bit fed up of players getting to 65 minutes and coming off – I want my best team on the pitch as long as possible, and Stan seemed to get stronger and stronger.

“I didn’t want a draw so I chose a side that would be able to win the game, and our home form has been pretty good against the top sides – I reminded the lads that.

“The first 15 minutes I was concerned because I thought Southampton had a lot of control and I didn’t want us chasing after the game and getting picked off, and we didn’t have much of the ball though they didn’t cause us too many problems.

“They did us with a set piece and that really disappointed me but I was really, really pleased with the lads’ reaction after we conceded.

“We had to be aggressive today and have that extra edge and as the game grew on we became more and more of a threat.

“Getting towards the last 20 minutes I was thinking should we go more defensive but I didn’t want to, and Chris Hackett said ‘come on, we’ll nick something’ – and Stan did.

“There was a guy shouting from the stand to me to switch our wingers over but Stan has played off the left before for Everton Under-23s and practised loads with his left foot.”

This is the fourth time Short has been caretaker manager at Oxford but he did not want to throw his hat into the ring to be the new permanent boss.

He said: “I’ve done 12 games now, with Covid. I’m euphoric now and full of adrenalin – but three hours ago I wasn’t feeling like that. All I wanted to be focused on is being a safe pair of hands – this club has been good to me.

“I feel I’m capable of steadying the ship, and then see where the process goes.”

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert was unhappy that his team lost control of the game in the second half.

Eckert said: “When there is a change of manager you always have to be aware of a reaction.

“We had a very good first 20 minutes and had a good amount of the ball, and several times the chance to go up in the game, but conceded after an easy ball was lost from a set piece second phase.

“We got back very quickly but the second half didn’t have as much control as we wanted.

“It was the way the game went in the second half that disappointed me most.

“For the quality that we have, we have to make sure the games are more controlled.”