CHRIS Wilder is proud of the way his club have approached the build-up to today’s derby game – and is relishing the big occasion.

Town boss Paolo Di Canio stoked the fire in the build-up to the first match by claiming James Constable was a Swindon fan, and has been at it ahead of today’s clash.

The Italian said in the week that he would ‘give back to Oxford what they gave to Swindon because he remembers how they celebrated when they at the County Ground back in August’.

He added: “That’s not a threat, but a promise.”

But Wilder replied: “There’s a lot of things that have been said from their camp. That’s their way, but this is our way of how we go about it.

“I think we celebrated in the right way there, we didn’t antagonise.

“I didn’t run down the touchline when we scored a goal to celebrate with the players and then rush back and pat the opposition manager on the back.

“We hadn’t won there for 38 years – are we expected just to walk down the tunnel at the final whistle?

“If we lose the game, I will shake their manager’s hand and congratulate our supporters on playing their part, and if we win, I will shake their manager’s hand and congratulate our supporters.”

United’s boss cannot wait for the Kassam Stadium atmosphere.

But he appreciates that facing a side who are top of the league, and who have won their last ten matches will be no easy task.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

“I know they are our bitter rivals and it is a massive game, but the things you can’t get away from are that they are on a fantastic run and they are massively backed.

“Every club does things in their own way, but the one thing we aren’t going to do here is spend pots and pots of money.

“This week we could have gone and signed two, three or four players to cover injuries, but then we could down the road find ourselves in the same position as Port Vale do now.

“It’s always the fans that have to pick up the pieces and we will not put our club in that position.

“Whatever financial backing they have, whether it’s short-term or not, they have to go up this season – that’s the minimum.

“But there’s no taking away from it that they are a very good side and the manager has done fantastically well.”