TONY Capaldi thinks the optimism in the Oxford United camp has returned after an upturn in form.

During a run of six successive league defeats in September the former Northern Ireland international said “confidence is as low as you can get”.

But since then United have steadily rebuilt, winning four of their last seven games – including a 3-1 victory at Wycombe Wanderers last weekend.

Capaldi has been encouraged by recent displays and believes a strong run could follow if performances continue.

He said: “I think other than Port Vale (a 3-0 loss), which was very disappointing, the last six or seven games we’ve picked up results.

“You can see the performances are better compared to what they were a month ago – the confidence is coming back now.

“They’re all winnable games, but looking at the fixtures until the middle of January it’s a nice set of games.”

Capaldi is looking forward to starting another FA Cup campaign tomorrow.

The 31-year-old has a rich pedigree in the competition, most notably as part of the Cardiff City side which lost to Portsmouth in the final five seasons ago.

He said: “I got injured in the warm-up but played, it was disappointing to lose but it’s nice to look back on and think you’ve played in an FA Cup final.”