CHRIS Wilder admits Oxford United’s FA Trophy exit may be a blessing in disguise so they can concentrate fully on their main goal.

The fixture nightmare that would have accompanied their progress into the semi-finals is over, and the U’s boss says they are now ready to focus fully on picking up the points they need to go up.

Saturday’s 2-1 quarter-final defeat by Kidderminster means the scheduled Blue Square Premier game at home to AFC Wimbledon tomorrow night goes ahead, as do United’s league fixtures at home to Kettering on March 13 and at Tamworth on March 21.

The Trophy is Non-League football’s big cup competition, but the fans of clubs like Oxford, Luton and Wrexham have never really taken to it.

Saturday’s quarter-final pulled in less than half of the gate for United’s previous league game, against Rushden, yet Kidderminster brought more than twice as many fans to the game as they did for the league encounter a fortnight earlier.

Wilder said after the match: “I can’t portray the feeling I’m happy being knocked out because I think all players and managers pride themselves on having a winning mentality.

“Maybe in the bigger picture we will see what our priorities are. People have seen the team we put out and the situation that we find ourselves in, in the league.

“We’ve got to make sure we fully focus on getting out of this league. That’s always been our priority.

“I don’t think the Trophy’s ever caught the supporters’ imagination because we’re a League club. And we’ve got to make sure, over our dead bodies, that we’re a League club at the end of the season.”

The competition works against clubs bidding for promotion because of the way it schedules its two-legged semi-finals in March, and Wilder conceded he had no idea where United would have been able to rearrange their league games had they won through to the last four.

“Maybe when we reflect and look back, it might be a blessing in disguise that we don’t play these extra games,” he said.

“I’ve spent the last two days looking to see where we’d fit these fixtures in.

“It would have been a major headache fitting those games in, we’d possibly have had to play Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday which isn’t very good in terms of trying to get out of the league.”