DANNY Hylton says the warm welcome he has received at Oxford United has been key to his flying start to the season.

The striker was man of the match as he scored twice in Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Dagenham & Redbridge.

It took his tally for the campaign to five goals in seven appearances, the same haul he managed in the whole of last season.

The 25-year-old said: “Since the minute I walked into the club everyone has been great.

“It just puts confidence into you.

“Every game I go into and try to work hard for the team and cause as many problems as I can.

“You just think you’ll get one chance a game and if you can take that then it’s happy days.

“Luckily I’ve managed to get two, so I’ll just keep going.”

The result saw United claim their first point of the season in Sky Bet League Two.

But while it was not the victory the team were hoping for, Hylton predicts it will launch their campaign.

He said: “We are off the mark now, as gutted as some of the boys are in there we’ve got to take the positives.

“Now we will go from strength to strength.”

United’s other scorer was Alex Jakubiak, who was making his first start.

The forward, who celebrated his 18th birthday last Wednesday, headed north yesterday to link up with the Scotland Under 19 squad.

Jakubiak will be playing against Czech Republic tomorrow night, so misses United’s trip to Cheltenham Town in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

But he is hoping he did enough to stay in the XI for Saturday’s league game at Southend.

He said: “I will be back training on Thursday and Friday and hopefully playing on Saturday.

“I said to myself before the game that now the gaffer’s put his trust in me to start, I want to keep the shirt and push on from there for the rest of the season.

“I just turned 18 the other day, so for him to put me in from the start I have to thank him for that.

“I wanted to pay him back for the decision.”

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