DARRYL Eales has a simple message for Oxford United’s supporters in the wake of their derby victory – let’s do it all again on Saturday.

An attendance of 9,013, of which just under 8,000 were home fans, watched Michael Appleton’s side romp to a 2-0 win over Swindon Town in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

It was an increase of 2,500 fans on the club’s average in Sky Bet League Two, boosting the atmosphere at the Kassam Stadium, which can be flat at times.

Eales is hoping the occasion will convince fans who do not regularly attend games to return, starting with this weekend’s league game against AFC Wimbledon.

United’s chairman said: “Please never tell me you can’t create an atmosphere at this ground, because you can.

“It was absolutely unbelievable for 90 minutes. It was like the away support every week and the boys responded.

“Hopefully for once we can say ‘big crowd, big performance, come on back’.

“I’ve said on many occasions the potential at this club is undoubted, but the difficult thing is creating the momentum which realises it.

“I think we’ve taken the first, most difficult, steps to achieving that and it’s now about keeping it going.

“It gives a boost for the whole county and I think the more people we can get to join the bandwagon and support the boys (the better, because) it does make a huge difference.”

It is a sentiment echoed by head coach Michael Appleton.

He said: “We have got fantastic fans and it shows we’ve got quite a few of them as well.

“My big message is please come back on Saturday, because you’ve got no idea how much it lifts the players.”

The tone was set just before kick-off, when a huge banner was unfurled by supporters in the Oxford Mail Stand.

Oxford Mail:

  • The banner was displayed by Oxford United supporters before kick-off

For Eales, it was the highlight of a special night.

He said: “I thought that was incredible.

“I spoke to the players when they arrived and said ‘you want to see the effort the supporters are putting in’.

“Everything is going well at the moment.

“We’re going to get hiccups because it can’t continue like this, but what I’ve said is we might as well enjoy it now and then stick together in the tough times, because it’s a long season.”