Dean Whitehead completed his transformation from one who couldn't get into the team to Oxford United's most valuable player with another virtuoso performance against Darlington on Saturday.

Dean WhiteheadWhitehead was the catalyst for United's comeback from 1-0 down at half-time to win 3-1, with Darlington having two players sent off in the second half.

The 21-year-old, from Abingdon, scored another of his brilliant free-kicks and also made the other two goals for Mark Rawle and Paul Wanless as the U's stormed back to maintain their unbeaten home league record and stay third in the Division 3 table.

There was again a posse of scouts at the game, many of them no doubt keeping a close eye on 'Deano', who has now hit four goals in his last eight games.

Boss Ian Atkins would not concede that Whitehead was now "indispensable", but he did agree that he was worth his weight in gold.

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