Who is this guy?

That was the reaction of many supporters seeing Simon Heslop for the first time this week.

The central midfielder, who joined the U’s from Barnsley in the summer, was outstanding on his debut at Burton, and even better against Bristol Rovers in midweek.

So although some fans were questioning the wisdom of letting Adam Murray go, in Heslop there is someone who has raised the standard even higher.

Manager Chris Wilder said: “I think the supporters have to trust me.

“Not all signings are going to come off, I understand that, but we have to make decisions.

“We have to keep an eye on looking forward.

“That’s part of the manager’s job and I will make mistakes, and I will select wrong players for certain games, or wrong tactics.

“But it’s all done in the faith and belief that we can build something here and Tuesday night showed we’ve got a lot of good young players who are eager to do well and that is a really healthy position.

“They’ve all played their part in where the club has got to – Yemi (Odubade) and Billy (Turley), and Adam Murray, but the club stays the same, players move on.”

So was Wilder looking at Heslop a lot last season?

“I’ve watched him for the last five years,” he said.

“We’ve seen Asa (Hall) and Hessie. I thought Bully (Dannie Bulman) in the second half was magnificent.

“Also Damian (Batt) and Tonks (Anthony Tonkin). We’ve seen them and brought them in.

“I think one of the things the chairman is delighted with is that whereas a few years ago older players were here and there were no great assets, now we’ve got assets all over the pitch.

“Not that we want to move them on, but it’s all healthy and good for the football club.”

Heslop himself was delighted that he could just play his part in United’s stunning 6-1 victory over Bristol Rovers.

“The first ten minutes we sat off them a little bit and they were getting on the ball.

“But once we really started getting into them, it really gave us the chance to do things going forward.”

Heslop scored two and might have had a hat-trick, his audacious chip from 35 yards tipped over the bar by the keeper at the last moment.

“It would have been nice had that gone in, but I’ll take two,” he said.

“I’m not too greedy about the hat-trick, the result’s the main thing. I thought the lads did brilliantly and we’ve just got to look forward to Saturday now.”

James Constable said: “He makes it easy for us and especially with Asa (Hall) and Bully, they complement each other perfectly.

“Bully holds and lets the other two bomb on, and hopefully we’ll get a lot more goals from them.”