I THOUGHT Tuesday night against Manchester City was a fantastic occasion and really showed what Oxford United is all about as a club.

It sold out weeks ago and you could feel the atmosphere building for two or three hours before kick-off.

I love nights like that and to come out of the tunnel and see the East Stand just a wall of yellow and blue was magnificent.

I know the lads behind that display all work or go to college and the other weekend they spent a whole day just painting the banners and making plans for just how it would look.

They were then at the ground from mid-morning putting the cards on every seat and setting it up properly and I want to thank them for all that they did.

It looked amazing and I think it will be one of the memories that people have of the night.

But equally, behind the scenes a lot of people worked so hard – the girls in the ticket office, the commercial team who sold all of the hospitality areas and went the extra mile. Our commercial manager Matt Everett gets married today but had to juggle preparations for his own big day with helping us get ready for ours!

But I don’t want to single anyone out – it was a team effort in every way and I hope it was just the first of many great nights over the coming years.

Football wise it was extremely hard, as expected, but the players rose to the challenge.

And now it is all about keeping our energy levels up and preparing properly for the trip to Wimbledon this afternoon.

The team won’t forget playing against the likes of David Silva and Vincent Kompany.

But that is over and done with and today’s game has always been far more important for us because we need to start turning good performances in to points on the board.

Simon Eastwood, Samir Carruthers and Jamie Mackie all trained on Thursday and that level of competition for places is only going to help.

But we have to be a little careful and make sure that in their eagerness to get out on the pitch they don’t in fact set their recovery back.

It’s a bit of a balancing act, but we will make sure that when they do return they are ready to make a huge positive impact.

A lot was written about Shandon Baptiste having the captain’s armband on Tuesday night and it was a very proud moment for him and his family.

But I want you to think about the character of the players around him.

John Mousinho, who captained the side the week before, wasn’t playing, but was there to give Shandon all his experience and help.

Curtis Nelson, who has been captain for the last two years, was among the first to suggest Shandon as captain and back him for the role.

That says plenty about the team spirit and the characters we have here in the dressing room.

Whoever captains the side today we know we have eleven players going out there who are ready to accept responsibility and be leaders as we try to get a valuable away win.