MICHAEL Appleton is expecting Oxford United to come up against a Bolton Wanderers side on a mission to deliver a response tomorrow.

The early Sky Bet League One pacesetters were winless in September and have scored just three goals in their last half dozen outings.

It was a similar set-up when the U’s visited Sheffield United in August.

The Blades were under pressure but claimed their first win against Appleton’s side and have since shot up the table.

United’s head coach is wary of a repeat, but equally knows the situation could be turned to the away side’s advantage if the game begins to go their way.

He said: “They’re going to need to react because they’ve not won in six.

“They are obviously a good side with experienced players and at some point, similar to Sheffield United, they will go again – we’ve just got to make sure it’s after Saturday.

“There will be a lot of pressure on them with it being a home game and we’ve got to try and play on that if we can do.

“We’ve got to start the game well.”

The Macron Stadium is the latest big ground United have played at this season following on from games at Bramall Lane and Stadium MK.

“It does excite me, there’s no doubt about that,” Appleton said.

“I hope the players are exactly the same.

“You want to go to these type of stadiums – in those last three games of last season they are the type of things we spoke about: give us an opportunity to go and pit our wits against better opposition.”