RYAN Clarke was pleased to end a tough week with a clean sheet on his 250th start for Oxford United.

The goalkeeper did not have a shot to save in the 0-0 draw against Dagenham & Redbridge, but handled everything which came his way with confidence.

It was an improvement on the previous game, when Clarke suffered a rare off-day in the 2-1 defeat at home to Cheltenham Town.

The goalkeeper said: “I was disappointed with both of their goals last week.

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“Thankfully, I’ve not had to hold my hands up too many times since I’ve been here.

“It’s been a horrible week for me because you want a game as quickly as possible.

“But I think I’m at an age now where if you do make a mistake you try not to dwell on it.

“You’ve just got to bounce back and be positive.

“I think this showed that and hopefully we can kick in and go one better by getting three points on Saturday (against Southend United).”

Clarke is the longest serving player in the existing United squad, having joined in May 2009.

The 32-year-old was unaware of his appearance milestone, which coincided with the side’s first clean sheet in nine games.

He said: “I didn’t realise it was 250 starts, but I welcome any clean sheet at the moment.

“I’ve not had one for a while so it was good to get one and it was a good professional team performance away from home.”

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