Chris Wilder said he cannot praise highly enough the players desperately trying to force their way into the Oxford United team.

And the U’s manager joked that there was certainly not a Carlos Tevez-type character at the club.

Although United have a huge injury list, Wilder said that the attitude shown by all the players at the club shows him that the team spirit at Oxford is better than ever.

And he is mindful that bringing in too many new players could damage that spirit.

“I have always gone for a lean squad of 22 or 23,” he said.

“I’ve not experienced the amount of injuries we have now during my time here and it is frustrating.

“We have gone to America pre-season to create a good team spirit and getting everyone nice and tight together, and you don’t want to damage that – we react to situations regarding injuries and don’t do things unless we feel we need to.”

Wilder says the effort made by the injured players has been very encouraging.

“Of course I feel it myself when a player gets injured because I want a full squad to pick from, but you have to feel sorry for the individual most of all,” he said.

“You have got Tony Capaldi who is new to the squad and he hasn’t been able to play, Tommy Craddock got injured pre-season and then Harry Worley has seen Dubes come in and has had to wait for his chance and then gets injured when he was about to come in.

“I can only compliment those players. I have not got any bad pros at this football club who want to sit on the treatment table or on the bench and not want to play their part.

“They are all desperately working to get involved – I’ve got no Tevez’s here!”

And what are Wilder’s thoughts on the Argentine, who refused to play for Manchester City in midweek?

“You might have issues, but you are a professional footballer and I just can’t understand why you don’t want to play football,” he said.