Four points from two tricky games – Chris Wilder is more than happy with his side’s start.

But he knows that there is still a huge room for improvement.

Oxford United’s opening two games have seen two very different performances.

A scrappy encounter against York was salvaged by a late, late show, while at Kettering on Tuesday, United played some good stuff, but did not have the ability to go on and win the game when the hosts were reduced to ten men.

However, when the fixtures were published, the views of most United fans was that the start to the season was a difficult one, and if their side were within touching distance of the top after the opening six, they could then really push on.

And so heading to Histon tomorrow still unbeaten, can only be a great sign.

There are plenty of positives to come out of the opening games, but also a few causes for concern.

The pace of the back line is the biggest worry – and two sloppy goals have shown that this is an area that must be tightened up if United are to seriously challenge.

However, Wilder said that he can already see improvement from the York game, and expects the partnership of Luke Foster and Mark Creighton to get stronger and stronger.

“I thought Foster did OK at Kettering, but was much better than he was on Saturday,” he said.

“The same for Creighton – they both improved.

“I am not happy with either goal we have conceded this season, both have really been done to us not doing our jobs properly, not the opposition carving us open at will.”

Wilder knows that there is still plenty to work on, but has been encouraged by most aspects of his side’s play.

“The Kettering game is going to be a typical away ground and a typical home performance against us.

“The opposition will be massively up for it, and wanting to turn us over. “We have to be able to deal with that, and I thought we did on Tuesday.

“The only real negative was trying to rush the game when they went down to ten men rather than let the ball do the work.

“Obviously, we are not going to be playing against ten men every week, but we looked too hurried and too often took the wrong option instead of keeping it simple. “Having said that, if Alex (Rhodes) had scored in injury time, things would have been very different.” Wilder showed that with a fully-fit squad, players have got to perform to keep their place not only in the starting 11, but also in the 16-man squad. Marcus Kelly started against York on Saturday, was taken off at half-time, and was forced to watch Tuesday’s match from the stands with Billy Turley named on the bench. Wilder explained: “We will pick a certain team for a certain match. “The players we picked on Tuesday, were players who we felt could beat Kettering. “We knew that their front two are big and strong and there was every chance that they would clatter into Ryan (Clarke) at some point and he could easily have picked up an injury so we felt we needed Billy there as cover. “On Saturday, we didn’t think we’d need a keeper on the bench – I know it’s a risk, but it gave us more options with an extra outfield player. “But this is what we will be doing all season. “The team we pick at Histon, will be one with that specific game in mind.” Oxford fans will remember all to well their side’s dismal display at Histon last season when they slumped to a 5-2 away defeat in what proved to be Darren Patterson’s last away game in the league as manager. It is still a defeat that haunts midfielder Adam Murray. “It was embarrassing,” he admitted. “While some of the lads will remember that, we will go there on Saturday and do our best to put it right. “I think that we are better equipped this time round to get a result there. “We have a bigger, stronger squad and have a bit more about us than we maybe had last season. “We know that it will be a difficult test for us because Histon play in a certain way, but we’ll be fully prepared and will look to keep our decent start going.”