Chris Wilder was confident last night that the move to bring Chris Hargreaves back to Oxford United wou-ld go through.

The 37-year-old vastly experienced midfielder is seen as a calming influence on the pitch for when players and fans may be getting tense and nervous in the testing times during the second half of the season.

Talks continued between Oxford United and Torquay United through yesterday with U’s chairman Kelvin Thomas looking to resolve the main sticking point - that Hargreaves has a Football League contract which takes him through to the end of June, while the U’s were wanting him on effectively a three-month loan until the end of April, when the Conference season finishes.

United boss Wilder said he was hopeful the deal would be completed so that the player could even link up with the rest of the squad for today’s Blue Square Premier game at Grays.

He said: “We’re really confident we can get the deal done.

“We’ve spoken to Torquay, there’s a couple of things to iron out, and hopefully we can do.

“He’s expressed a real desire to come to us. He’s as fit as a fiddle – he’s played 24 games in the Football League for Torquay this season, and we feel his experience will be vital to us.”

Hargreaves, who was an inspirational skipper for Oxford in his previous spell, has become a legend at Plainmoor, and many fans find it hard to believe that Torquay manager Paul Buckle is offloading the four most experienced players as he looks for a change to younger blood. Chris Todd and Tim Sills have also left, and Kevin Nicholson is poised to join Stevenage.

Hargreaves has led by example in Torquay’s return to the League. Phenomenally fit for his age, he played more games last season – 56.

Hargreaves has worried about whether it is the right thing to go back, but he has a great love for Oxford, and knows how much it would mean to everyone at the club.

Significantly, United’s squad has much more fire-power now than when he was here before.

So, as unlikely as the transfer maybe seemed to some a few days ago, this may just be what Oxford United need.

Wilder said: “Everyone knows what he is about, he’s played at the top of this league with Torquay.

“He would be a great addition for us in the second half of the season when things get hairy-scary.”