Chris Wilder says it’s decision time for several of his players.

The Oxford United manager says he is taking stock, with the season a third of the way through, and decide which players need to come in and go out.

He believes he has given enough chances to players to show whether they can go up a level.

And after successive league setbacks against Bradford and Torquay, and four defeats in the last five games, he intends to act now to try to arrest the slide rather than wait until the January transfer window.

Wilder said: “We’ve got to make decisions so that we can move forward, we don’t want to be a stand-still club.

“We’ve had days when we’ve been good and days when we’ve been poor – the consistency levels frustrate me at times.

“I know we face some very difficult decisions, but they need to be taken.”

Some fringe players played in a reserve team friendly behind closed doors at Northampton on Wednesday, when scouts from other clubs were known to be watching.

The good news from that game, which United won 2-1, is that midfielder Simon Clist, whose season has been disrupted by injury, played 90 minutes.

Clist, who had a succession of niggling injuries since having a hernia operation in the summer, has started only one League Two game this campaign.

Also turning out was centre half Mark Creighton, after serving his one-match suspension for receiving two yellow cards at Bradford.

He missed the 2-0 loss at home to Torquay, but should be back for Sunday's FA Cup first-round tie at Burton.

Others in action at the Sixfields Stadium were Simon Eastwood, Stevie Kinniburgh, Richie Baker, Mitchell Cole, Sam Deering and Jack Midson.

Reflecting on Tuesday night’s reverse, Wilder added: “It was ridiculous the number of chances we created.

“We’re in a little bit of a dip at the moment. Now we’ve got to take stock and make decisions.”

Meanwhile, the red card handed to Bradford City striker James Hanson during a clash with United’s Jake Wright in the U’s 5-0 reverse at Valley Parade has been overturned by the FA.

Hanson and Wright were given three-match bans, but Bradford successfully appealed against Hanson’s dismissal and he was able to play in the Bantams’ 1-0 win at Bury on Tuesday night.