Oxford boss Wilder seeks home comforts (From The Oxford Times)

Oxford boss Wilder seeks home comforts

11:00am Friday 1st March 2013 in Sport By David Pritchard, Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458

Chris Wilder is desperate to give Oxford United’s home fans reason to cheer when Port Vale visit tomorrow.

The Kassam Stadium has been anything but a fortress for the U’s, who have picked up just two points out of 12 since beating Cheltenham Town on New Year’s Day.

Instead, the side have reserved all their positive results for their travels, impressively winning on five of their last seven away days.

The Jeckyll and Hyde nature of their form was emphatically demonstrated in the last week, where a dire goalless draw at home to York City on Saturday was followed up by a 1-0 win at npower League Two leaders Gillingham on Tuesday night.

Wilder acknowledges it is a shame most fans have not witnessed their side’s best recent moments, something he is keen to rectify tomorrow against Micky Adams’s title challengers.

“I’d love to show a DVD to our supporters which showed how we’ve gone about our business away from home recently,” the United manager said.

“If we can go toe-to-toe with Gillingham then we can do the same with Port Vale.

“Hopefully we can give the crowd something to shout about, I understand we’re at home and the majority of your supporters are there.

“I will always want to win the majority of your games there, having a solid home record is required for you to be successful.”

He added: “Hopefully we can get over that and turn the corner in terms of home performances and results.”

The lack of success at home has led to some discontent at the final whistle of recent games, but Wilder stressed the crowd had only ever been a source of encouragement.

He said: “I know some places the home fans will give their team 20 minutes and that’s it, but I don’t get the feeling we have that.

“I’ve never thought ‘we’re at home, oh dear’, because our crowd have been positive.

“They’ve given players the best opportunity to perform, which is what I’ve always asked.”

And after beating the leaders on Tuesday, a similar result against the second-placed side just four days later would provide a big boost heading into the final two months of the season.

Wilder said: “It would kick it on and there would still be a lot to look forward to.

“People have their opinions about what should happen and where we’ll finish, that’s part and parcel of the game.

“It’s up to us to drive on and finish as high as possible.”