St Albans City boss Gray describes Oxford City as best side he's seen at Clarence Park

City are still looking for their first win of the National League South season after their home defeat but Gray insists his side were just outplayed by a better side.

Gray said: “Oxford City are the best side that have been to Clarence Park since I’ve been involved. They are well drilled, well organised, very comfortable on the ball and we were second best for the majority of the night and the boys were at full tilt.

"They worked their socks off out there tonight but sometimes you just have to concede we lost to the better side.

“I’ve got no complaints. We could have made it a little closer in terms of keeping our end of the bargain and having a little more quality. But they didn’t really let us have any quality and they’re a very good side and I would be surprised if they weren’t up there on that showing.”

The Saints were held to a goalless draw at Gosport in Saturday’s season opener. City were almost ran off their feet on Monday but Gray put that down to their opponents’ qualities.

He said: “The lads looked like they played two games in two days and are absolutely knackered but that’s because Oxford made us work so hard. They all worked their socks off and tried to do everything we asked them to do tonight and unfortunately we were second best. It’s as simple as that."

“We’re going to have to play at full tilt against every side we come up against in this division. I can’t fault the boys’ application or attitude. Sometimes you just hold your hand up and say you’re second best.”

Gray added: “We didn’t ask the boys to play too much tonight because I didn’t feel we would be able to match what they were going to do. The way they closed us down I think we could have opened ourselves up more so we were a little bit direct. But when we did have the opportunity to play we didn’t find a yellow shirt too often which was disappointing.”

Kynan Isaac opened the scoring for Oxford before new striker Louie Theophanous netted his first goal for the Saints. But efforts in the last 20 minutes from Ander Del Alamo and Bradley Bubb handed the visitors a deserved win.

Gray, whose side host Ebbsfleet United this Saturday, was encouraged by the performance of goalscorer Theophanous but is concerned about his fitness after picking up a knee injury.

“I thought he did very well,” he said. “He took his goal superbly like the proper striker he is. He’s getting sharper but it’s unfortunate he might have tweaked his knee so we will have to assess that over the next few days. It’s not looking too good at the moment which is disappointing.”

Looking ahead to the Ebbsfleet match this weekend, Gray said: “I don’t think they’ll play the kind of football Oxford played. But we’re going to have to dig deep to nullify their threats and try to be a bit better going forward ourselves.”

There is a team and supporters’ coach going to Eastbourne Borough on Tuesday, August 18. The coach will depart at 3pm from the Clarence Park entrance to the ground. To reserve £15 seats, call Ian Rogers on 07714 145862 or alternatively you can book at the Ebbsfleet United home game on Saturday.