Karl Robinson has praised his Sunderland counterpart after Lee Johnson personally intervened following the half-time bust-up during Oxford’s trip to the Stadium of Light.
The U’s manager revealed Johnson called him and also spoke to Craig Short and goalkeeper Jack Stevens after the fracas that marred the Black Cats 3-1 win against Oxford on Good Friday.
In a fiery encounter, the home side came out 3-1 winners in a match that saw players clash at half-time in the tunnel. Karl Robinson was sent to the stands by referee Trevor Kettle and Oxford also saw midfielder Mark Sykes, rightly, given his marching orders for a second bookable offence.
“I know what happened in the tunnel at half-time and I’m still waiting for that to be dealt with,” Robinson told the Oxford Mail.
“Lee Johnson called me, he spoke to Shorty and Jack. Tremendous credit to him, he didn’t have to do that. He said a few things to me and that stays private, but I respect everything that he said.”
Robinson was also quick to quash any rumours about Max Power being involved in the half-time incident.
“There’s a misconception that it was Max Power, it wasn’t Max either.
“That’s a bit unfair, but what he did at the end of the game (celebrating his goal in front of the U’s bench) also wasn’t acceptable.”
Oxford’s season now appears to be over following back-to-back defeats over the Easter weekend, however, Sunderland kept themselves in the driving seat thanks to the Good Friday victory and a decent point at Peterborough.
Posh sit one place ahead of the Black Cats in the table but if Sunderland win their game in hand they will leapfrog Darren Ferguson’s side into the automatic promotion places.
Hull remain top thanks to a convincing win against Northampton on Easter Monday but the Tigers have played a game more than Peterborough and two more than Sunderland.