Jon-Paul Pittman says that he was calm when faced with an open goal against Crawley on Monday, because of the work Oxford United’s strikers had been doing in training.

After charging down an attempted clearance from keeper Scott Shearer, Pittman slotted home for a tight angle to give United the lead.

And as well as it being his first goal for Oxford, it was all the more sweeter because of who it came against – both the team where he had been on loan this season, and the goalkeeper who he has twice played at the same club as.

“I have played with Scott at Wycombe, as well as Crawley,” Pittman said.

“So I gave him a big hug at the end of the game.”

He added: “The goal was just a case of taking a gamble.

“I was lucky that the ball fell for me and I was able to score.

“Andy Melville has been doing some extra finishing with the strikers in training and I actually felt really composed when it broke to me.”

Aside from Pittman himself, one person delighted the striker got off the mark was skipper Jake Wright – especially as he played a large part in getting him to sign for the club in the summer.

“JP’s come back, looked sharp, has been difficult to play against in training and it’s worked out for him,” Wright said.

“Hopefully, that will kick-start his season as I know what a good player he is.

“I played with him at Crawley and I think I was part of the reason he signed.

“The gaffer asked me about him, I said that he was a very good player.

“Although maybe he didn’t show that in the first couple of months or maybe was unlucky at times, hopefully he’ll get a few more goals for us this season.”