JAMES Constable is desperate to hit his 100th goal for Oxford United and admitted Saturday’s home game with Bristol Rovers would be a great time to reach the landmark.

The striker moved to 99 last Saturday with the opener in a 2-0 win at AFC Wimbledon.

It brought him within eight of Graham Atkinson’s all-time record and one behind Tony Jones in second place.

The victory saw Chris Wilder’s men move back to the top of Sky Bet League Two on goal difference.

Constable, who was the subject of multiple transfer bids by the Pirates last year, is focused on helping the U’s stay there and would love to round off a century of goals in front of a big crowd at the Kassam Stadium.

“It would be a great occasion to do it in,” he said.

“We will work hard and look forward to it. If I score, that would be great, but winning is the main thing.

“It’s a local derby, they will bring a few and I'm sure with the position we’re in, we’ll have a lot of fans there.

“It makes for another good game where everyone is going to be desperate to perform well.

“We need to start like we did against AFC Wimbledon and try to do it for 90 minutes.”

Rovers brought almost 2,000 away supporters to the same fixture in February, helping to boost the crowd to 7,608 – United’s largest home league attendance of the season.

A slow start to the campaign means they are unlikely to bring quite so many this time, but a strong presence in the away end is still expected.

The 7,187 who watched the 1-0 defeat to Chesterfield last month is the biggest gate for the U’s this season, but it could be beaten on Saturday.

Wilder is hopeful home fans will respond to his side’s position in the table and flock to watch the game.

He said: “It’s always been a tough game with Rovers.

“They will bring some support and hopefully there will be a great crowd cheering us on and giving us that push and drive to stay top.”

United have already received a fitness boost ahead of the game, with Alfie Potter returning to full training on Tuesday.

The influential winger has missed the last four games with a minor hamstring injury, but is likely to be in the squad for Saturday’s game.