Centre half Chris Willmott is determined to keep his place in the Oxford United team – although he knows it could be out of his hands.

The former Wimbledon, Luton and Northampton defender returned to the side for the FA Cup tie against Hayes & Yeading, because of Barry Quinn's ankle injury.

And he played his part as the U's chalked up only their second clean sheet of the season.

Willmott admits he's been frustrated at times this season, and even contemplated going out on loan to get match practice in his bid to fully recover from the knee injury which sidelined him for most of 2007-8.

"It's never easy to come straight back in," he said, "and to play alongside Luke Foster, which I haven't really done much of either.

"I think we got stronger as the game went on really. We were pleased with the clean sheet, and just wish we'd score more goals.

"I haven't been too pleased so far this season," he admitted.

"I was glad to get a run of games and then disappointed to be left out, and I haven't really had a chance since.

"I've been left off the bench, which is never easy – watching from the stands.

"I've just got to get my head down, get back in the team and hopefully I can stay there. I suppose it depends on Quinny's injury."

And although he has much more experience than Foster, Willmott says he wasn't surprised that manager Darren Patterson stuck by the centre back duo who had performed well at the end of the last campaign.

"Quinny and Fozzie had a good partnership last season and I don't think they deserved to be dropped this season," he said.

"I accept the decision, and it's up to me to force my way in."

Going out on loan had been talked about, he conceded.

"Earlier in the season I did speak to the manager about that, but nothing really came up. Actually, that was the week before I got my little run in the team. Obviously, I was in the team then and that sort of went away.

"I haven't brought it up again, I've just been hanging around waiting for a chance like last Saturday.

"And anyway, we've got a small squad."

He now hopes United can move on from their 2-0 FA Cup win and continue their good home form in the league against York City at the Kassam Stadium this Saturday.

"The first half last Saturday was a bit more shaky than the second half, not just for me but for the team as well. I think we really got to grips with the game in the second half.

"Unfortunately, we missed a lot of chances which would have made it a lot easier for ourselves in the end. I can't remember a game with as many blatant misses as that. We seemed to get in so easily. Not really with great football, just with a long ball and little flick and we seemed to be in every time, "But it was a 2-0 win and we'll look to keep going in the league now.

"We need to win our home games, and get as many points away as we can," Willmott added.

"A draw is normally a good result away from home – as long as you're winning your home games.

"We haven't had a good start, but we've been winning our home games recently, which we need to continue, and we'll gradually climb up the table."