Histon tend to bring out the best and the worst in Oxford United.

Supporters will be hoping it’s the former at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday as the U’s bid to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat at Luton.

In the three seasons they have faced each other, Histon and Oxford have been involved in some high-scoring contests.

There were two horror shows from the U’s – the first under Jim Smith when they lost 1-0 away, a big surprise because part-timers Histon had played two nights earlier.

And under Darren Patter-son, the 5-2 defeat at Histon was one of the low points of last season.

But Oxford also trounced the Stutes 3-0, and they have done a whole lot better against the village team since Chris Wilder took charge.

Last April, United fought back from a goal down early on to win 2-1, with James Constable bagging a brace.

And in their second away game of this season, it was a terrific performance that earned them a 4-3 win at the Glassworld Stadium, with Constable hitting another double, and Matt Green and Simon Clist also on the mark.

Constable completes the second of his two-match suspension tomorrow.

His replacement is Jack Midson, who scored for His-ton in the corresponding fixture last season, and a glorious goal it was too.

Midson will be eager to do well against his old club, and United will want to get the Luton loss out of their system at the earliest opportunity.

Assistant manager Mickey Lewis insists they have enough strong characters not to let Tuesday's Kenilworth Road defeat derail them.

It was a bitter pill for the U's to swallow to lose a game they had looked like winning, with the Hatters scoring from corners in the third and sixth minutes of stoppage time for their dramatic 2-1 victory.

But Wilder's No 2 says United are very capable of bouncing right back, just as York – who lost in the same manner to Oxford on the opening day – have done.

“Yes, it was very hard to take, but we've no choice but to take it on the chin and get on with it,” Lewis said.

“Obviously the boys were down in the dressing room.

“Luton put a lot of pressure on at the end, but you expect that when they're a goal down, and we should defend better at set pieces.

“It was a major blow, but we've got to fight back from it. If you look at York, in our first game of the season, it was pretty much the same. Fair play to them, they've made a pretty good fist of it since then.

“The good thing about the last few games – last Satur-day, the Tamworth game at home, and this one, is we're always creating chances.

“You'd be worried if we weren't creating chances, but we are, and we created good ones in the first half again.”

Sam Deering put Alfie Potter in on goal from the best of them, but keeper Mark Tyler saved with his legs.

Lewis reflected that the Luton match was “a proper game of football”, something you don't always get in the Blue Square Premier.

“It was a good game, and a good performance from us," he said. “In the first half, after the first ten minutes, I thought we controlled it.

“They came out and chan-ged their system a bit in the second half and came at us. We weathered the storm again – it was a bit like a cup-tie.

“We had a couple [of crosses] go across the box that we almost got onto, then we scored a good goal. You expect it then to be a bit of a bombardment.

“Perhaps we could have been better with the ball when we did break, but you expect them to come at you fast and furious, and they did.

“We were so close to holding on, and we should have done."

“It is a cruel game sometimes, but York had the same situation at the start of the season against us. We've got strong enough characters not to let it affect us.”