OXFORD United’s rising stars dominated the headlines this week.

Tyler Goodrham was the hero on Saturday, scoring a brilliant winner against Cambridge United on the eve of his 19th birthday.

Three days later, Ed McGinty made up for an early mistake against Swansea City to save a penalty on his U’s debut.

READ MORE: Karl Robinson outlines plan for young prospects

Karl Robinson insisted the goal did not change United's plan for Goodrham, but the head coach also said that moments like that can 'propel people quicker'. The exciting forward followed it up with 90 minutes against Swansea where he did not look out of place.

Then on Tuesday, the U's boss also suggested the decision to send Jack Stevens on loan would be informed by McGinty's performance.

The 23-year-old composed himself after the early error and ended the night on a high, while his teammate was loaned to Port Vale less than 48 hours later.

I wrote two months ago about how pre-season and the early weeks of the campaign are the best window for young players to show what they can do.

Managers often rotate their teams with the early rounds of cup competitions taking place, while there are still be gaps in the squad ahead of transfer deadline day.

The latter has enabled James Golding to force his way into Robinson's thoughts at right back, with the 18-year-old seemingly being considered as cover for Sam Long.

Every year, a crop of rising stars feature fleetingly in August, but we very rarely see them again for another 12 months.

READ MORE: Support from Oxford United stars has given me belief, says Tyler Goodrham

The last United youngster to force his way into the first team after impressing early in the campaign was Shandon Baptiste in 2018.

The midfielder, then aged 20, had made just two substitute appearances in the EFL Trophy going into that season.

But some eye-catching performances saw him play 13 times - and captain the U's against Manchester City - before injury halted his progress in October.

At this point, you would not expect McGinty, Goodrham or Golding to feature that regularly and it is very early days.

But they have done everything they can to suggest we will see all three for more than just the odd cup game this season.