CIARON Brown is aiming to make his family proud on Saturday by finishing the job in Oxford United’s play-off campaign.

The U’s head to Wembley for the Sky Bet League One play-off final, where they will take on Bolton Wanderers.

Brown’s route into professional football differs to the traditional one, playing for the likes of Bedfont Sports and Wealdstone before joining Cardiff City.

He then had two loan spells at Livingston, while a temporary move to United preceded him joining the club on a permanent basis in the summer of 2022.

From there, he has become an integral part of the U’s defence, that demonstrated by the fact he scooped both the players’ player and supporters’ player of the year last season.

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Brown said: “My family are proud from a personal point that I got here. I came through football a more difficult way and it’s a happy time for my family.

“It’s something to feel grateful about, but at the same time, I am sitting here not satisfied with just getting to the final.

“You come this far across the whole season to try and win it.”

Against Peterborough United in the play-off semi-finals, Brown was in commanding form, particularly in the second leg, when he won countless blocks, headers and interceptions.

He said: “We defended a lot more than we normally do in a game, and towards the end, they were slinging it into the box a lot more than they normally would.

“If they put it in the box that much, I’m probably going to head it as much as they put in the box.

“I think the defence has been good the majority of the season, but when you put them in the spotlight like that against Peterborough, it’s a lot more noticeable.

“We’ve obviously had to do a lot more in that game than we normally would. Everything is clicking into place and hopefully we’ve found our form at the right time, and we can go into Saturday confident.

“We’ve been tested quite a lot towards the end of the season. Maybe it puts us in good stead for the final.”

Oxford Mail:

Chelsea loanee Jamie Cumming excelled in goal against the Posh, with Brown and U’s skipper Elliott Moore solid at the heart of the back four.

Brown said: “Jamie’s picked up good form at the right time. Me and Elliott for the majority of the season have played with each other, so we’ve got a good understanding.

“Sometimes having familiar faces around you makes it a lot easier when your backs are against the wall.

“You can understand each other’s game, and strengths and weaknesses.”