Welcome back to Kenilworth Road for tonight's Blue Square Premier encounter with Oxford United.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to Chris Wilder, his staff, players, the directors and supporters of Oxford this evening.

The past week and the two matches that we have played during it have been very mixed for us.

A hugely disappointing home defeat by Ebbsfleet United was followed by a fine away victory at Barrow on Saturday.

I spoke at length after the loss to Ebbsfleet and still reflect on the game as one of the lowest points in my footballing career.

We were simply not good enough on the day. On the reflection of the 90 minutes Ebbsfleet were the better side and deserved to earn the three points.

The players were made fully aware what a victory would have done for a majority of reasons.

However, on the back of three straight league wins, and two in the space of a week away from home, we were too complacent.

A win would have made it four victories on the spin; given us the chance to break into the top five and send out a clear message to the rest of the division.

In some ways it was frustrating not to have a match on the Tuesday after the Ebbsfleet game as it would have given us the chance to bounce back as quickly as possible.

But after a week of soul searching and hard work on the training pitch we went to Barrow and returned with a 1-0 win and with it a thoroughly professional away display.

We started the game well and chalked up another success away from home thanks to Liam Hatch's goal seven minutes from the end.

It was fair reward for the players. They have responded in the best possible way following the disappointment of the previous week.

The win at Barrow sets us up nicely for this evening's game which is the first in a busy streak of Tuesday night fixtures and gives us another opportunity to break back into the top five.

Make no mistake: we are treating tonight's game like any other. We will have prepared the same way we would have done regardless of the opposition.

There's no doubting there will be a great atmosphere tonight and I am sure the players will respond in the way we know they can.

The league table can change very quickly and results dictate that and we know we are in good form and confident.

Your support has been terrific - even in the face of adversity. I'd like to thank all those fans who made the long trip to Barrow on Saturday.

It was great to see so many of your there. It was an important match for us and to have your vocal backing throughout the 90 minutes really helped and was much appreciated.

Enjoy the game.

Richard.