ANOTHER clean sheet felt as good for the Oxford United defenders as Conor McAleny’s hat-trick, according to Joe Skarz.

A sixth shut-out in nine Sky Bet League One games helped Michael Appleton’s side to a 4-0 romp at Chesterfield.

Only Oldham Athletic, with 14, have kept more clean sheets in the division than United’s dozen.

And Skarz, captain for the day as John Lundstram was rested, knew United’s firepower would take care of the result if the back four held firm.

He said: “I told the lads in the huddle before the game if we kept it tight at the back and got our creative players on the ball, we’d win the game.

“I’ve played in games where I’ve felt as Chesterfield did – like the opposition has an extra man.

“You have to enjoy it and when you have the attacking players we’ve got, then our job as defenders is to give them the ball and let them do what they do best. The clean sheet to us is like Conor’s hat-trick.

“We’ve got No 12 now and we want to try and get the most clean sheets in the league this season.”

United won just once away in the league up to mid-December, but have collected six victories from their last seven trips.

And Skarz is beginning to see similarities with the way they ripped sides apart on the road last season.

He said: “It feels as though we’re playing away from home like we did last year.

“Sometimes you’ll be under pressure, but that’s when a lot of us are calmest. We know we can hit teams on the counter-attack.

“It’s all going well, but football can turn in an instant. We’ve just got to keep preparing well and see where it takes us.”

Skarz was inadvertently responsible for one of the biggest cheers of the afternoon, when a mis-placed pass caught referee David Webb in a sensitive area.

United’s left back said: “I saw Rob Hall on the right but I shanked it. It looked quite painful, but luckily he was OK.”