Oxford Cheetahs boss Aaron Lanney has made it up with world champion Tony Rickardsson after he branded the Swede a 'disgrace' following the meeting at Reading.

Lanney was speaking after he had time to reflect on an up-and-down Good Friday which saw Cheetahs win their first meeting of the season, only to be hammered out of sight in the return fixture.

"I feel I need to explain my comments over the PA system during the latter stages of the meeting at Reading regarding my feelings towards Tony Rickardsson," said Lanney.

"Firstly, I would like to say that I have since been in contact with Tony and we are absolutely fine.

"Both of us have felt the pressure during matches recently for different reasons and we have said things to each other in the heat of the moment.

"We are both big men and have always resolved matters immediately after meetings. I respect Tony totally and I think he has respect for me for what I am trying to do for Oxford.

"Tony is quite the individual and is certainly not being used as a scapegoat in any way, shape or form.

"I guess I just thought he might be able to help the team who were quite obviously struggling with form and he is a guy that they all quite rightly look up to.

"Unfortunately we never got any of that from Tony and I guess my comments on Friday evening were born out of sheer frustration, not just from that evening, but going back over the previous weeks.

"Don't get me wrong. I like Tony as a person and have the ultimate respect for him and his achievements in the sport.

"I just felt that he could have helped his teammates out when they needed it instead of being critical of them.

"If we had a Leigh Adams or a Greg Hancock in the side, I'm sure things would have been different.

"Leigh guested for us against Wolves and I was amazed at how he took control of things and how the guys listened and responded to him. It has certainly taught me a lesson."