CHRIS Wilder praised Oxford United for the way they responded to a setback, but felt no-one would be looking too far ahead after a stoppage time winner kept them top of the league.

Dave Kitson’s header secured a 2-1 win against Dagenham & Redbridge to send the fans home happy at the Kassam Stadium.

It preserved their place one point clear of the chasing pack in Sky Bet League Two, where they have lost just once in the last ten games.

But ahead of a busy festive programme Wilder is keeping everyone’s feet on the ground.

He said: “We don’t get carried away and there is a long way to go.

“We know there will be setbacks along the way, but you are in it to win it. We need to be in the race come January and this has done us no harm at all.”

United made a flying start and took the lead through James Constable, but were unable to add to their tally and Rhys Murphy’s chipped equaliser put the victory in doubt.

Wilder was pleased to see his side shrug off the goal to hit back and take all three points, although the manner of Dagenham’s goal disappointed the United boss.

“It was self-inflicted,” he said.

“The lad has had a swing at it and he will take credit for that, but there are 40 seconds to go before the end of the half and we take a short free-kick and gave it back to them. It should have been put in the corner.

“It’s about doing the right things at the right time and, to be fair, in the first half we had done that, so that was disappointing.

“I had a bark at them for 30 seconds and we reminded them how well they had done in the first half and how we needed to go again.

“The sign of a good player and a good team is how they react to mistakes.

“They made one, they held their hands up and they went again. I think we fully deserved the result, even though it was late in the day.”