DES Buckingham is set for a reunion with Paul Warne for the first time since Oxford United’s promotion at Wembley.

Derby County head coach Warne guided the Rams to second place in Sky Bet League One last season, and was on punditry duty when the U’s beat Bolton Wanderers in the play-off final.

Warne brings his Rams side to Grenoble Road this evening, and like United, have acquitted themselves well in the Championship so far.

Both teams have collected 13 points and sit in a healthy mid-table position after 10 games.

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U’s head coach Buckingham said: “Paul’s got a way he wants to set the team up. The last time I saw him was at the Wembley final, where he was very complimentary about what we did and how we did it, so he’ll be aware of us as well.

“We’re at home and we want to take the game to Derby as much as we can, whilst being respectful of the threats they pose, and make sure we perform to the levels we have.

“They’ve got some real strengths, which we’re aware of and need to prepare ourselves for.

“It’s always nice to see teams coming up and do as well as they can, ourselves included.”

The two teams last met on December 29, and despite a Cameron Brannagan double providing United with a 2-0 lead after just 13 minutes, the U’s succumbed to a 3-2 defeat.

A visibly fatigued United side conceded in the 81st and 86th minutes, as the Rams completed a late turnaround.

Buckingham said: “I think we’re both in very different places. I can’t speak too much for them, but when you look at where we were the last time we welcomed them at home, I’d like to think we’ve really moved on in terms of developing the club, building our squad, and bringing in staff.

“We’re in a very different place, and a very good place, so as nice as it was to welcome them to the Kassam last season, we are a very different team to what we once were.”

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He added: “Home and away, we’ve had 10 different challenges in their own right. The pleasing thing is we’ve shown we’re able to adapt and we’ve shown we’ve been able to find solutions and put ourselves in a position where we’ve been picking up points.

“Ultimately the end goal is to stay in the league and those points will help us do that.

“I don’t see this as any different to what was Stoke, Norwich, Preston, West Brom or Burnley. It’s a Championship game and that’s certainly the way we’ll approach it.

“But more importantly it’s a home game where we enjoy playing and the fans are enjoying watching us play I think.

“We sent them home happy at the weekend and we now just want to continue that on.”