OXFORD United's emerging young star Ross Weatherstone has set his new targets after landing a two-year contract with the club.

The 18-year-old from Woodcote, who helped United to a battling 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round on Friday night, said: "It's what I've been working hard for and I'm happy I've signed now.

"My next goals are getting my first goal and basically getting a longer contract, if that doesn't sound too big-time . . . getting a bigger contract and staying at the club."

Weatherstone was unsure at the start of the season whether he would still be in professional football, but he stands out as someone who clearly relishes the big stage.

He had a superb debut at Reading, yet felt he didn't play quite as well at the City Ground, even though the team as a whole worked tirelessly and defended brilliantly against the first division outfit.

And although the attendance was only 8,000, just appearing on the ground was pure magic for the younger of the two Weatherstone brothers. "It's dreams really," he said. "It's a dream venue, Euro 96, everyone sees it on TV, it's brilliant for me. I'm just loving every moment of it."

The Forest goal, scored by Dougie Freedman, came from a mix-up between Mark Watson and Weatherstone after goalkeeper Paul Lundin looked as though he was coming for a cross, but then changed his mind.

"I thought Mark was going to jump up and head it, but because of the surface, it skidded through and he's had a great strike. There's nothing you can do about those," Ross said.

"Personally, I didn't think I had the best of games, but it's only my fourth match. Hopefully, I can progress and go on, with the lads helping me out. But it was a great result for the team." Ironically, some national newspapers claimed it was brother Simon who was playing, the confusion caused because Ross had to play in his brother's shirt after United forgot to pack his top.

"They had a mix-up," he said. "They didn't pack my shirt today so I went into the referee and said 'can I use my brother's?' Luckily, Simon, who was on the bench, didn't get on."

Story date: Monday 13 December

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.