THIS was the second transfer deadline day I have covered and it felt very different to my first.

In January, Oxford United went into the final 24 hours of the window with Luke McNally their only signing and we knew they were chasing at least two more players.

That became three, as Joe Grayson, Elliot Lee and Brandon Barker all arrived on a hectic day – we even interviewed the latter while he was being driven down from Scotland to get the deal done.

Yesterday was far less stressful in comparison and there were strong suggestions very early on that Ben Davis would be United’s only piece of business.

Of course, it is always dangerous to jump the gun – especially with all the rumours surrounding Cameron Brannagan.

People were saying Blackpool had submitted a record bid, and even that they had spotted the midfielder at Bloomfield Road.

Read also: Karl Robinson on Cameron Brannagan, left back cover and Dan Agyei

When it is such a big deal – in every sense – you never want to rule anything out, but by the time we reached Cambridge at about 5pm (why did they decide to schedule a game on deadline day?) we had pretty much established these rumours were wide of the mark.

Karl Robinson all-but confirmed that and revealed Blackpool were the only club to submit a bid for Brannagan.

The amount the Tangerines offered made it easy to turn down, but it still felt like a big statement at the end of a successful window for United.

Holding on to key figures like Brannagan is one of the key aspects of ‘acting like a Championship club’, as Robinson always says, and other teams will take note when they next try to test the U’s resolve.

United did allow Rob Atkinson to leave for a very good price, but turned down interest in Jack Stevens and other players, according to Robinson.

The U’s head coach had long been after cover at left back, but decided against it.

Transfer tracker: All the League One moves

You can see the dilemma. As the window went on, it would have been increasingly difficult to find a player happy to be Steve Seddon’s understudy but also better than an Anthony Forde, Sam Long, Jamie Hanson or Jordan Thorniley filling in.

There was also the squad cap, with Herbie Kane’s arrival taking United to the maximum of 22 outfield players aged 21 or over.

That would have meant moving someone on, although there are a few players who could certainly do with getting game-time on loan.

But having numbers in the building is no bad thing and allows rotation like we saw last night, where 12 players who were in the squad against Lincoln City on Saturday did not even travel.

United have laid the foundations for a successful season by getting their business done early and starting well on the pitch.

They have momentum, now they must build on it.