OXFORD United booked their place in Monday night’s Emirates FA Cup third round draw with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle.

But their win, worth £54,000, has been overshadowed by news that the club still have not paid an outstanding tax bill.

Despite giving assurances to fans almost two weeks ago that they were dealing with a winding-up petition issued to the club at the start of last month, the U’s are still to settle the debt.

It last night prompted supporters’ trust OxVox to make public a strongly-worded statement to United owner Sumrith ‘Tiger’ Thanakarnjanasuth.

The group say they are ‘extremely concerned’ with the way Oxford United is being run and have demanded the club answer questions about a number of off-field issues.

The most serious, however, is the second winding-up order the club has received in less than eight months.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) filed the initial paperwork against United on November 7.

Since then, despite the Oxford Mail requesting information from the club – including on Sunday night – the only official comment has come from director Zaki Nuseibeh at an OxVox members’ meeting.

And on Friday it was listed on The Gazette – the official UK public record – meaning the payment is still outstanding.

Their case is set to be heard in the High Court at 10.30am on Wednesday, December 19.

OxVox sent the United board their letter on Wednesday, but having received no reply have made clear their dissatisfaction.

“We have been seeking clarify for some time,” OxVox chairman Colin Barson wrote to members last night.

“Despite asking for a reply before yesterday’s FA Cup game we are extremely disappointed to report that, at the time of writing, we have received no such reply from Tiger and the board. We feel that there is absolutely no excuse for this.

“The recent HMRC winding up petition is still not settled, despite assurances being made at our members’ meeting on 21 November that it would be settled that week.

“We are extremely concerned with the way our club is being run and demand that Tiger and the board respond to our questions as a matter of urgency.

“We feel the fantastic supporters of our club deserve to know what is happening and how we find ourselves in this perilous position.

“Due to the severity of the situation, it is our view that any reply from Tiger and the board should be put into the public domain and we await their response.”

At their members meeting, Nuseibeh told supporters the matter was “being dealt with this week”.

He added: “I certainly hope it won’t be repeated. We will learn from our errors.

“I think putting the right processes in place and making sure everyone knows what they need to do in their own position within the club means that such issues will be avoided in the future.

“It’s absolutely being dealt with, absolutely.

“I’m not there on the operations of the finance team to be able to tell you what they did yesterday or what they are doing tomorrow.

“But what I can tell you is they are dealing with this error of non-payment and this will be sorted.”

HMRC took the same measure over an unpaid bill in March.

That came less than a month after Thanakarnjanasuth had completed a deal to take over the club.

The outstanding payment was settled quickly, with United blaming the lapse on a brief gap in the finances caused by the takeover.