OXFORD PLAY IT COOL IN MANAGER SEARCH

DAVID Unsworth has ruled himself out and Craig Bellamy is now the bookies’ favourite, but Oxford chairman Darryl Eales insists they are in no rush to fill their managerial vacancy.

Pep Clotet was sacked at the end of last month and Derek Fazackerley has been in caretaker charge of the team ever since.

Last week, however, Everton Under-23s boss Unsworth – tipped by many for the role – revealed he would not be taking up the position at the Kassam Stadium.

That has left Bellamy, currently Cardiff ’s player development manager, as the shortest odds for the position, but Eales is taking his time.

“At the end of the day, the needs of the team come first and, with three games in a week, that has to be the most sensible solution,” Eales said.

“We’ve made no decision and nobody has been our number one target in that sense because it would be disrespectful to the process. “We will take our time.” Caretaker boss Fazackerley led the Us to victory over Charlton a week ago and added: “I’ll just carry on.

“The club, over a period of time, will obviously make a decision on what they want to do.

“Whatever they decide to do, I’ll be quite comfortable with it.”

Midfielder Joe Rothwell, 23, has poured praise on the caretaker’s influence since taking charge.

“Everyone’s together now trying to get behind Faz, and you could see even the subs were running on to the pitch to celebrate as a team,” he said.

“It was probably the quickest I’d run all game!

“I think Faz has tried to go back to basics and the way Michael Appleton did it.

“The lads are buying into it. Everyone’s behind him and you could see, (against Charlton) we got a positive result out of it.”