United joy at going Green (From The Oxford Times)

United joy at going Green

8:00am Monday 7th September 2009 in 08/09 Reports

Matt Green beats Ebbsfleet goalkeeper Lance Cronin to put Oxford United ahead in Saturday’s Blue Square Premier game

Chris Wilder’s Oxford United put themselves in great shape ahead of tomorrow night's big match against Luton with a near-perfect away performance at Ebbsfleet on Saturday.

And Wilder admitted he never had any doubts about Matt Green, or thoughts about dropping him after his misses against Forest Green Rovers.

Green bounced back in style, scoring one and helping make another in United’s 2-0 victory – totally tormenting Fleet's young left back Jordan Collins.

Wilder said: “In terms of an away performance, it wasn't far off what we are trying to achieve.

“It contained the desire, the attitude, the alertness in winning the second ball, and when we got it, we played as well.

“We scored at the right times as well, so the opposition had to come out at us a bit, and we had good quality going forward.

“And it was right that the back four had a clean sheet – they were as effective for us as the boys at the other end of the park who will get the headlines.

“I like Greeny,” he added. “I like his personality, the way he goes about things.

“He showed his disappointment after Forest Green – there are going to be times when you miss, or things don’t go right, but you can’t dwell on that.

“It’s the same with Beano (James Constable) – things are not going for him at the moment, but Tuesday night might be a different one when he pops up and hopefully gets a goal again.

“I didn't think of resting Greeny for this game because he works hard and plays well,” Wilder added.

“I've looked at a DVD of all our goals and he’s in and around every one.

“Green’s obviously disappointed when he misses, but he's got the right attituide to go and be the one to put himself on the line and battle to get a goal, as he did today.”

Like Oxford, Mick Harford's Luton – the bookies' favourites for the title – are unbeaten this season, but the U's are four points ahead of them after the Hatters were held 1-1 at Salisbury at the weekend.