OXFORD United may have forced their way into the play-off positions, but the graft has only just begun, says manager Chris Wilder.

“We just want to keep going,” United’s boss said. “The hard work starts now.”

There is understandable excitement from the fans after the U’s climbed to seventh – a play-off position – in npower League Two following Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Shrewsbury.

“We deserve to be in the position we’re in, with the results that we’ve got, and we’re in a great position,” he said.

“Are we good enough now to stay in and amongst it, and kick on?”

Next up for United is a derby with Cheltenham Town at the Kassam Stadium tomorrow, in a rearranged league game brought forward from March.

Mark Yates’s side are just a point behind Oxford, though surprisingly lost 2-1 at home to lowly Lincoln in midweek.

But Wilder expects the same reaction as Cheltenham showed when the two sides met at Whaddon Road on September 28, in a clash that ended 1-1 – the last time that Oxford drew!

“The last time we played them, they’d been comprehensively beaten at Bury and I know Mark Yates wasn’t happy with that, and their reaction when they played us was first class, for the first 20-25 minutes,” he said.

“They’ll show that same kind of reaction and are a decent side, so we’ll have to be right on our game.”