AFTER a first league win at Accrington last Saturday it’s so important that we build on that and get something out of today’s home game against Crewe.

I was going to say it was ‘important we keep our foot down’, but after the fun we had with the team bus last weekend that might not be the right choice of words!

I actually said to someone before we kicked off at Accrington that sometimes when everything goes against you the real character of a team shines through.

Rob Atkinson: I'm ready to kick on at Oxford United

We had illnesses, injuries, then the bus not starting and us arriving just in the nick of time.

Remember, we had lost the previous two games in the league, so shouldn’t we have been feeling sorry for ourselves? Not this group.

I though we were terrific right from the first whistle and full value for the win.

I had to laugh when I got home, though. We had moved right up the table after scoring four goals.

“Well done Dad,” my daughter said.

“You were bottom of the league and now you’re half way”.

Talk about keeping me grounded!

Obviously it’s much too early to start looking at tables, but we definitely didn’t want to be playing catch-up so early on.

Now we have something to build from and I have to say that the players have been excellent in training all week.

Because of the illnesses and injuries everyone knows the side has chopped and changed so far and in a strange way it has kept everyone pushing to say they should be the first name on the team sheet.

The spirit is fantastic and it is a pleasure to come in to training every day.

Hopefully that translates into another winning performance today, but again I have to say my thoughts are with the fans who will be watching on iFollow at home.

This should have been our test day to see if we could have supporters back in the stadium.

For obvious reasons that can’t happen, but we will keep planning, keep pushing and all we want is to be in a great position when we can finally welcome you all back.

If you do want to watch Oxford United play live, then can I recommend going along to see the women play Crawley Wasps tomorrow afternoon?

Fans are allowed at that level and I went along to see them win 3-1 at MK Dons on Wednesday night and thoroughly enjoyed the game.

I think it’s vital that the whole club is together as one and every player in the Oxford side wore that badge with pride.

They play good attacking football and the plan is for them to compete at the top of their league this season.

I believe it’s free for season ticket holders, so if the men’s team can’t run a pilot game this weekend maybe fans might want to use the match as their own way of easing back in to watching live football.

I’m sure it will be a very entertaining contest and hopefully we both end up winning and heading in the right direction.