With another big crowd expected for another big game, Chris Wilder knows that his players need to step upto the plate against Cheltenham tomorrow.

The U’s are in the middle of a difficult run of matches, which has seen them suffer four defeats in a row, two of them in cup competitions.

Away defeats at the top two sides in League Two, Southend and Crawley, have seen Wilder’s side slip to ninth in the table.

And things don’t get any easier tomorrow when they entertain a Cheltenham side whose great run has seen them climb to third.

But Oxford are yet to lose in front of their home fans in the league this season, and their manager is keen for that record to still be in place come 5pm tomorrow afternoon.

“It’s up to us to get ourselves out of this little hole we’re in,” Wilder said.

“Two straight league defeats don’t sit well with me and I know it doesn’t sit well with the players either.

“The players have set the standard and we have dropped below that a bit in the last two weeks.

“But I do keep reminding them that only two weeks ago people walked out of here in raptures after we beat Port Vale, and everyone was saying how good we were.

“It only takes one performance to get things back on track and hopefully that will be Saturday.”

Wilder says that he knows the team will again get great vocal support, and is urging the players to ensure the fans have plenty to cheer.

“We owe the fans, we know that,” he added. “We have been backed fantastically in the last two games, but it is a two-way relationship.

“I have got to pick the right team, and the players have got to do the business when they cross the white line.

“We have lost to the top two teams in the league, which is disappointing.

“It is up to us to show what we’re about and get after the opposition and give the supporters something to cheer about.

“We are six points off third place, and we have a chance to get three points closer to that position and hopefully the table will look better after Saturday.”