ANDY Whing hopes Oxford United will see Banbury United as a destination for their young loanees again next season.

The U’s sent Mackenzie Chapman and James Golding to the Puritans in 2021/22, with the latter’s stay particularly successful.

The centre back spent the second half of the season with Banbury and featured regularly in their march towards the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central title.

READ MORE: James Golding makes first Republic of Ireland start

Golding's performances helped the 17-year-old earn his first professional contract in March and paved the way for his full debut for the Republic of Ireland Under 19s earlier this month.

Whing’s side are preparing for their maiden campaign in Vanarama National League North, where they will be joining several ex-Football League teams.

The former U’s player knows Banbury will have to be clever to compete against clubs with bigger budgets – and is taking a similar approach to one of his former bosses at the Kassam Stadium.

“We’re going to have to use the loan market like we did last year,” the Puritans manager said.

“We used it really well with players like James coming in.

“I remember when Oxford got promoted to League One Michael Appleton wanted a smaller squad but better quality. I think we’ll have a smaller squad than most of the league.

“We had a fantastic relationship with Oxford United last season and we feel James improved with us, playing three or four positions.

“Hopefully we can tap into that again next season.”

He added: “Last season we didn’t have one of the top budgets in the league, so our recruitment focused on how we could bridge that gap.

“We only need to add two, three or four players, if the budget allows.

“We feel that would be a really good quality squad of 14 or 15 players.”