Simon Clist is desperately disappointed to be missing Saturday's game against his old club Forest Green Rovers – especially after opening his account for Oxford United with a fine goal in the 3-0 win at Eastbourne in midweek.

The 27-year-old midfielder, who played more than 120 games for Forest Green after joining them from Barnet in June 2006, cannot play because of an agreement between the clubs when he joined the U’s last month.

“It is disappointing,” he said. “But it’s something Forest Green have insisted on with a few players who’ve left.”

The late goals that he and Craig Farrell tucked away at Priory Park on Tuesday night brought United their best away win since their 3-0 success at Halifax 12 months ago.

“In the end, we deserved that margin of victory and it was a great win in those conditions and considering that a lot of clubs have gone there and struggled to get results.

“We had to adjust our game with that wind, but we handled it well.

“In the first half the ball was running through to their keeper a lot and in the second half we had to withstand pressure.

“My goal and Fazza’s goal helped relax us a bit more.

“It was nice to get a goal early on for Oxford, I’d been hoping to get a couple at least before the end of the season.”

He added: “It was a great ball from Adam Murray to me. I saw the keeper rushing out and him just a bit to the left, so I thought I could knock it past him on the right.

“With the ball through to Fazza I just had to make sure it was a weighted pass, and he did the rest.”

Dorset-born Clist, who admits he didn’t play well in the 2-0 home defeat last Saturday, added: “We had to bounce back after Torquay because we need to keep the pressure up on the teams at the top.

“They’ve consistently picked up results but there will be games when they drop points unexpectedly, I’ve seen that in previous seasons. We just can’t afford too many slip-ups.”

Simon and his partner, Rebecca, who is a barrister working in Henley-on-Thames, live at Finstock, near Witney.

And last week they joined nearby Witney Lakes Resort, where Simon regularly uses the state-of-the-art gym and pool after training for some extra work.