MICHAEL Appleton says it is impossible to pick one or two matches during his three years at Oxford United that stand out above the rest.

Taking the U’s from the lower echelons of Sky Bet League Two to the upper reaches of League One, with two Wembley appearances and many cup shocks thrown in along the way means there have been plenty of highlights.

Beating Wycombe Wanderers to secure promotion, taking more than 2,300 supporters to an away match at Carlisle United, defeating Premier League Swansea City and Championship side Newcastle United in the FA Cup, as well as maintaining their superiority over arch rivals Swindon Town, are just some of the highlights of his spell in charge.

But for differing reasons, there are some other matches that Appleton will look back on as key moments.

“The hardest day, or at least one that sticks in my mind more than most was the Boxing Day defeat to Shrewsbury in 2014,” he said.

“It was a miserable day, sleety, dark, were playing a side towards the top of the league, we were struggling and we had a number of kids in and around the team because I knew I’d get honesty from them.

“We were 2-0 down and I remember standing there with ten minutes to go and thought ‘this is boys against men’.

“They were in a different league to us. They looked League One, and we looked a Conference side.

“I was worried and I knew we had to make drastic changes here.”

He continued: “Two days later, we were on the coach coming home from Plymouth having just won 2-1.

“We got absolutely battered for 20 minutes – and I mean absolutely battered – then they had a sending off, we got a little bit of luck, equalised and then James Roberts scored a fantastic winner for us.

“I think the fans probably thought we were back on track, but I knew we weren’t.

“I knew there were big changes needed.”

And alter things he did.

The following season Appleton led United to promotion and then last year was tasked with not only establishing the U’s as a League One club again, but trying to manage a push for promotion.

He recalls a run of three games in eight days that he felt defined their season.

“The away game at Rochdale was a massive one for us in January,” he said.

“We had them on the Saturday, Bradford in the Checkatrade Trophy on the Tuesday and then Newcastle in the FA Cup on the Saturday.

“We had been in a bit of a sticky patch, but I said to the players in the hotel before the game that we have three matches in a week that could mean we were out of all competitions and our season could then have been virtually over.”

His words were taken on board.

A 4-0 victory at Rochdale, who had won their previous ten home matches, laid the platform for two more victories in the cup competitions.

“We were absolutely outstanding against Rochdale,” he said.

“Although the Bradford game was called off, we went on to beat them the following week and, of course, there was the win over Newcastle.

“From being in a position when our season could have been over, it was very much alive.”

But while the wins over Wycombe, Carlisle, Swansea and Newcastle will always provide Appleton with much pleasure, United’s victory at the County Ground in February holds a special place.

“It’s difficult not to mention the result at Swindon,” he said.

“To go a goal down, not playing that well to then absolutely dominate the second half, scoring twice – although probably we could have scored many more – was particularly sweet.

“You only had to look to see what that meant to everyone.

“But everything I have achieved at Oxford gives me a great deal of satisfaction.

“There are simply too many stand-out moments to list.”