Matt Bloomfield dedicates Oxford win to Amelia Aplin after death last weekend

Oxford boss Matt Bloomfield dedicated Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over Blackburn to Amelia Aplin, the club’s 15-year-old goalkeeper who collapsed and died last weekend.

Jamie Donley scored the winner as Bloomfield’s side secured a third successive victory to move within a point of 20th-placed Blackburn as the relegation fight heats up.

Bloomfield said: “It was very bitter-sweet tonight.

“What we wanted to do, more than anything else, was to pay tribute to Amelia and her family in the correct manner, giving her family and her team-mates the respect they deserve and for them to join us on the pitch.

“Both sets of supporters observed the minute’s silence immaculately and thank you to them for that.

“Tonight was about dedicating the evening to Amelia, she’ll live forever in our hearts, her family will be friends of the football club forever and we had to make sure we paid the best respects for such a devastating loss for her family.

“We wanted to perform properly. I thought we were very good first half, some of the football we played, some of the pressing, the energy we showed was really good.

“Second half we came out and were a little bit erratic, then we got a foothold.

“Probably the biggest disappointment is not to have been two or three goals ahead and been a bit more comfortable at the end.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t put the game to bed, but ultimately to come away with a clean sheet and three points was really pleasing. We should have been more comfortable.

“But it’s been a very profitable three games for us, three wins and nine points but there’s plenty more for us to do, we have done nothing yet and we need to get more points.

“We’ve had some consistency and we’ve got to keep it going.

“Jamie Donley’s first goal for us is massive. He helps to knit us together as that number 10, but for him to get that first goal is great. He just gives us that bit of creativity – he’s an intelligent footballer.”

Blackburn boss Michael O’Neill said his team lacked quality, especially in the first half.

O’Neill said: “I was disappointed with the result, obviously, and disappointed with the performance, especially the first half.

“I thought second half we were better, but first half we just made too many errors, lacked quality in possession, made poor decisions and invited pressure against a team set up to press and force you into mistakes.

“We were poor in that first half and that’s where we lost the game. We are conscious that we’ve only got two fit strikers and in a three-game week we didn’t want to play both of them.

“But overall, it doesn’t matter what system you play if you can’t take care of the ball and we gave the ball away cheaply, and we lacked quality in the final third.

“We’ve had three defeats and a draw now but we’ve got nine games left, and we’ve just got to try to maximise what we can take in those nine games – the squad is extremely stretched, there’s no doubt about that.”