JAMES Henry admitted his penalties for Oxford United were priceless – literally.

The midfielder came up trumps in a crucial clash, netting twice from the spot either side of Cameron Brannagan’s strike.

It earned a pressure-relieving 3-0 home victory over Tranmere Rovers at the Kassam Stadium.

But Henry’s most difficult task was taking them in the first place.

He had to turn down Tariqe Fosu’s pleas for the first, before having to deal with an unusual offer from another teammate in stoppage time.

VIDEO: Highlights from Oxford United's win over Tranmere

“Matty Taylor offered me 100 quid,” Henry said.

“I thought ‘you cheeky so-and-so’.

“I understand where everyone is coming from, but I feel like I have earned the right to take them.”

Henry has netted seven of his 29 goals for United from the penalty spot.

But it turns out the excellent record is not the product of hours spent practising on the training ground.

The 30-year-old said: “I very rarely take them, maybe on a Friday on an away trip I might ask Jack Stevens to do two or three.

“I think you can over-think them sometimes and then start to worry about where you’re going to put it.”

He added: “On the first one I waited for the keeper to move.

“I had a feeling he was going to dive that way because I put the two against Millwall (last month) in that corner.

“The second one I just had a feeling he would go the other way.”

The brace helped steer United to what was only their second Sky Bet League One victory of the campaign.

While they have played more entertaining football at times this season, the U’s showed a mature side to limit Tranmere’s threat.

And after slipping to 20th in the table, Henry admitted they had a point to prove.

Henry said: “We just went into this week and there were some words said between us.

“We sorted some things out and we knew coming here we had to win.

“I think there were a lot of wrongs that needed righting.

“If you watched the games from start to finish we weren’t far away in any of them and in some we played some very good stuff, but that’s not always what football’s about.

“You have to do the nitty-gritty stuff and it’s the small details we haven’t quite got right as a team.

“That’s what we need to keep doing because there’s a lot of ability in this squad.”