Oxford United chairman Kelvin Thomas has urged fans to remember how far the club has come.

Thomas spoke out in an attempt to counter an air of doom and gloom among some supporters.

It comes after Oxford have seen their early-season lead at the top of the Blue Square Premier wiped out – they now trail Stevenage by a point.

Thomas issued a reminder of what has been achieved – and what still can be achieved under manager Chris Wilder.

“We’ve got to realise where we’ve come from and the impact Chris has had within that process,” he stressed.

“We’ve gone from almost going out of business to challenging for the championship in 14 months. We’ve gone from a £1m loss to virtually breaking even.

“Plus home gates have really improved. From an average of 4,728 in 2007-8 and 4,879 in 2008-9 to an average this season of 6,108.

“Our form is three wins, two draws and one defeat in six games, and it’s been often against teams who have hit form.”

United’s chairman remains confident of promotion, but agrees the team need to regain the momentum they enjoyed before Christmas, and which Stevenage now have.

In some ways, Oxford are victims of their own success earlier in the season.

“We’ve got to win games, clearly,” he said. “The key now is to get some momentum, but people have to understand it’s this manager and this group of players who have got us to where we are.

“If someone had asked me last summer, with 11 games to go, if you could be one point off the top, and still have to play that top team, would you take it? Of course I would.”

The U’s did lead the table by eight points, so despondency that this has been completely blown away is natural, especially because Oxford have squandered big leads in the past.

Thomas said: “I’d urge supporters not to be unrealistic in their expectation . . . 11 points out of 18 is not a low. Stevenage have taken 15. It’s not like York, who have taken two out of 18.

“We’re still averaging over two points a game, which is championship form.”

He added: “There is a nervousness around and yes, we know what’s happened before, but there seems to be, among a minority, this expectation it’s going to go wrong again.

“We can’t think like that, and we don’t need to think like that.”