Chris Wilder's noes in the York programme
Welcome back as we take on York City. Last season saw York come back into the Football League in a great manner, something we know all about, and this season has seen them adjust well to this level. There are a lot of big powerful sides in this division and although there are always some teams who fly right the way through, if you look back at it really over the last ten or 15 years there haven't been that many.
Perhaps that shows you that sometimes it takes a time of readjustment before you go again, and that's what I am sure York will be planning to do.
We come into the game on the back of a good win at Plymouth, which was great for the players. They hurt when we don't win and work very hard on the training ground to build up to Saturdays and Tuesdays. A lot of effort goes into the week and when you don't get the results then you obviously feel it.
Having won away from home we will be looking to get a home win under our belts. We have found it a touch difficult here recently. I think people have seen for themselves one of the reasons that has blunted some of our attacking-minded players at times. Up against three of the form teams in the division we felt we should have got more out of the games than we did.
As I said after the game last Saturday some people read a lot into stats, some don't. We had more positive stats over the four games that we lost than we did in the four games we won before that. People look at games in different ways but we were defensively strong and tight at Plymouth and we need to do that again today. If we have that base to build from then we feel we are positive in our approach. We haven't put defensive players out wide and looked to soak stuff up, we went with a positive approach last weekend and got our noses in front and then were disappointed not to stretch our lead.
Alfie Potter and Tony Capaldi will be back today to add competition. I thought that Josh Parker looked very bright last week. He has weighed in well when he has come off the bench and deserved his chance. We were delighted that he took his opportunity. He is the type of player we like. When other teams are going out spending big money and paying big wages we have unearthed a player who wants an opportunity more than anything else. He wants the stage to prove himself on, and now the trick for him is to keep that going.
Away from the playing side, today is our annual Military Day. We have nothing but respect for everyone in our armed forces, for what they do for us and for our country. I am sure they will get a wonderful response once again this afternoon.
Finally, good luck to Richard Blackmore and the Ladies side here tomorrow. I have taken my two girls along and watched a couple of their games and really enjoyed them. Hopefully they will get a decent crowd in here tomorrow and perform well again. It's not just the first team that this club caters for, there are a lot of other things and we are proud to represent all of the community. Whoever pulls a yellow shirt on we want them to play with pride and do well, so hopefully the two Oxford sides playing here this weekend can get good results and continue to make progress.
Chris