Oxford United make the first of successive Saturday visits to Essex on Saturday, looking for a first win at Grays.

Before Chris Wilder’s arrival, the U’s had a pretty poor record against the club situated just north of the Thames.

In Oxford’s first season after dropping into non-League, there were two draws, 1-1 at the Kassam Stadium and 2-2 at the Recreation Ground, thanks to a Rob Duffy brace.

The following season both league games finished 0-0.

And last season, when Darren Patterson was man-ager, United fell to an embarrassing 2-0 defeat against the team that finished 19th.

Wilder’s arrival has sparked a marked improvement in fortunes against Grays.

Last March, Oxford, who visit Chelmsford City in the FA Carlsberg Trophy third round on Saturday, January 30, beat Grays 4-1 at home, with James Constable bagging a brace.

And in October, both Con-stable and substitute Jack Midson hit doubles – Jamie Cook getting the other – in a resounding 5-0 win over Julian Dicks’s side.

So can Oxford follow that up with a first win at their place?

They really need to, if they want to send out a message to other clubs in the league that they have fully recovered from last Saturday’s surprise home defeat by Tamworth.

Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Woking in the FA Trophy was a first step to getting back on track, but it was only that.

Once again, too many good scoring opportunities were squandered, with the goals to chances ratio still well down on what it was in the first three months of the season.

But that’s natural when forwards are lacking sharpness and confidence. They tend to snatch at chances instead of doing what comes naturally.

“We’ve just got to maybe relax a little bit, trust in our own ability and trust in what we’ve done in the first half of the season,” said Wilder.

“There’s a few players just off the pace a little bit, a few players where things just aren’t happening for them and they’re a little bit edgy at the moment.

“If we can get a few players back, and with a few decent performances, we can get ourselves back to where we were at the start of the season.”

Wilder’s decision to allow Luke Foster to go – and the centre back this week joined Mansfield – was the first time the manager has really had his authority and decision-making questioned by some.

Maybe that was a natural reaction, because Foster had been an excellent servant, and fine ball-playing centre half at this level.

But fans don’t always see the way team members blend together, and maybe Wilder felt that he would have a tighter unit on and off the field with someone like Jake Wright instead of Foster.

Wright, who has arrived from Brighton, had a difficult start against Tamworth, but was better in midweek.

He will need time to get used to new teammates, but he un-doubtedly has the pedigree.

So too has ex-Charlton and Chelsea youth team player Sam Deering.

The 18-year-old would have been on the bench against Tamworth but for injury worries for both Damian Batt and Adam Chapman.

But he came on as a second-half substitute against Wok-ing, playing centrally just behind Constable, and almost scored with a header when he showed great determination in flinging himself in front of a defender to get to a cross.

“The bright light for me was Sam,” Wilder said. “He was unfortunate on Saturday not to be involved, and I thought he came on and sparked us into life a bit.

“He’s put himself right back in the frame, and a few players might have to take their lead off Sam.

“He’s a young kid, he does things that are daft, but he wants to go and play, he wants to achieve. He plays with a conviction and he makes things happen.

“Players have got to take responsibility for the performance out there, individually and collectively.”

Wilder added: “I don’t think I’ve got a group of players who are coasting, and who are not trying their hardest.

“The group are tight and are desperate to do well.

“Maybe they’re not playing freely and are not at the top of their game, but that changes really quickly in football with a decent result and a decent away performance.”