JIM Smith says that he will not be trying to work out Oxford United's play-off opponents - they'll take whoever.

The U's secured second place in the Nationwide Conference with Saturday's 2-0 win over Stafford.

It means United will be at home in the second leg of the semi-finals and the rumours are that it could well be on the Tuesday night, May 8, rather than Bank Holiday Monday because it is what the police prefer.

However, there is no decision yet, and indeed, United's opponents aren't yet known.

Their semi-final opponents will be the team that finishes fifth, but that could still be one of York, Exeter or Burton.

United's final game this Saturday is at York, who need something to guarantee their place in the play-offs.

Smith said: "York aren't there yet and could miss out if we beat them.

"But Billy McEwan is their manager, and he's my best mate, so you should maybe get your money on York!"

Joking aside, though, he added: "We've got to go there and remember that whoever plays, they're all fighting for a place in the next game.

"We can't say anybody's got an absolute right to play in the next game, because of the inconsistencies of our results.

"So whoever plays has got a shout of playing at Wembley."

The odds are on Oxford facing Exeter City in the play-off semi-final, because the Devon outfit currently occupy fifth place with just one complete round of fixtures to go.

"I don't think anybody can be clever enough to try and work out how our result next week will determine who we face in the play-offs.

"Whoever we play will be hard. York, Exeter and Burton are all teams who want to play football."

Striker Chris Zebroski, 20, whose loan from Millwall was extended, did his prospects of leading United's attack no harm at all with a good performance, and another goal, against Stafford.

And Andy Burgess and Luke Foster similarly impressed to suggest they could yet claim starting places in the play-offs.

United's manager said: "It was good to see Chris getting in the box the way he did for his goal.

"He's not a natural goalscorer, but he scored with a header last time at home and he was the johnny-on-the-spot this time - and we haven't had too many of them.

"We wanted to give Andy a game because he hasn't played a lot lately.

"Andy has been injured a little bit too much this season, and he's always been inconsistent. But what he can do is produce balls and moments that nobody else in our club can do.

"In fact, all the new players could have scored.

"Luke Foster drove one past the post from the right and shot over when he might have put it back onto his right foot.

"I would have liked a few more goals, with the greatest respect to Stafford, but we didn't concede a goal, we won the game, and if we'd done that a bit more often at home we'd have been not having to think about play-off."

The Bald Eagle has always been hard to please.

And he admitted: "You always want better, you always want to put on a spectacle, but it was a professional performance and it was what we wanted to do.

"We made a good few changes, they all did their job and we got a result."

Smith was surprised his players didn't pepper shots at 42-year-old stand-in keeper Neil Grayson in the last 23 minutes after the Stafford striker put on the goalkeeper's jersey because Robert Duggan was concussed.

"We didn't test him much, that was a disappointing thing," he said.

"If I'd been out there, I'd have been shooting every time I got the ball, but for some reason we were trying to walk it into the net.

"The main thing was to get through these games without any injuries and to make sure we've got everybody available for selection when it matters - in the play-offs."

The only fitness concerns were when both Rob Duffy and Burgess suffered cramp in the second half, neither having played much lately.

The U's boss said: "The game served its purpose. Players got games and we were never in any real danger."