This is Des Buckingham's latest column written exclusively for the Oxford Mail.

We are looking forward to playing at home again today after four away games in a row.

We won the two league games in that run, at Charlton and then Carlisle so we want to carry on with that momentum and keep ourselves right up there in the pack towards the top of the table as we go into the last 20 games of the season.

It’s funny how these things work but after all those away matches we now have four out of five games at home so it would be good to set the tone and get a win from the first of them.

Northampton showed in the game at their ground just before Christmas what a dangerous team they are and they are in the top ten in the league table as one of the form teams alongside ourselves.

We shouldn’t need any extra motivation this afternoon after a strong performance at Carlisle last weekend.

That was a long journey for the fans but I hope you enjoyed your weekend and the result made the journey home that bit happier.

We took a few minutes to get going in the game but from the moment Mark Harris put us ahead I felt we were in control.

We got ourselves three goals up and played some good football, especially in the second half.

There is always room for improvement and conceding a late goal highlighted that, but we can be pleased with that performance and it feels like we are starting to hit our stride at the right moment.

It’s not a coincidence that it is happening just as players come back from injury.

We welcome Sam Long back into the match day squad today and Greg Leigh was involved last weekend alongside the new arrivals of Jamie Cumming and Tyler Burey to the group.

We are hoping to have a couple of additional faces involved before the end of January and then in March, we look forward to Marcus Browne and Kyle Edwards being back fit to give us a final push towards the line.

These are exciting times and we would love to see you this afternoon. Put on a hat and scarf and come along and support us.

There are actually two games between Oxford and Northampton today with our disability squads playing this morning at the training ground.

I had the pleasure of meeting our team earlier in the week and it was very humbling to hear them talk about their passion for football and Oxford United in particular.

The club’s community work is so important and makes such a difference around the city and I am a massive believer in everything they do,

My very first coaching job was for the community, many years ago and I will never underestimate the impact we can make with games like today’s.

I want to wish everyone involved good luck, and I look forward to seeing them at our game later.