“Wow” – that was the first word Chris Wilder uttered when he emerged from the dressing room to meet the press after Oxford United’s brilliant 3-0 win at Eastbourne.

He was referring not just to the unbelievable conditions in the game, but also to the character of his team as they rode the storm, quite literally, and showed real backbone.

It put them back on track after the hugely disappointing 2-0 defeat by Torquay at the Kassam Stadium last Saturday.

And with Stevenage only drawing 1-1 at home to Forest Green, and Wrexham’s demise continuing, as they lost 1-0 at Crawley, no-one should write the U’s off just yet.

“I’m delighted for the players,” Wilder said. “It was a great, professional performance.

“The application at East-bourne was first-class, everyone’s delighted in the changing room.”

Adam Murray’s goal from a corner got the ball rolling, and no-one should under-estimate the skill in doing that. Simon Clist and different Forest Green players tried the same thing and didn’t get close.

And the two goals which sealed the three points, from Clist and substitute Craig Farrell, came from classy passing moves, and good finishes.

But the U’s know they have to maintain the intensity of their performance and get another win at Forest Green tomorrow in a Blue Square Premier game that will see them have more fans at The New Lawn than the home team.

It will be a difficult task for the U’s, because they are without centre back Luke Foster and Craig Nelthorpe, who are both suspended, and Clist, who is unable to play against the team that sold him to United last month, Foster picked up his fifth booking last Saturday, the final day before the yellow-card deadline expired, while Nelthorpe is now in the middle of a three-game ban after his red card against Torquay.

Forest Green are showing consistent form, even though they lie just two points above the drop zone, having played a game more than 21st-placed Barrow and Grays in 22nd.

Since losing 2-1 at Oxford on January 20, when Yemi Odu-ade and James Constable put the U’s two up in the second half before Rovers clawed one back –- they are unbeaten in seven league games.

That run comprises six draws and one win – a 3-0 success at home to struggling Northwich.

And every one of the six draws has been a scoring draw – 1-1 against Grays and at Stevenage, 2-2 against Histon and at Rushden and Salisbury, and 3-3 at Torquay.

Clist says he will be happy to pass on any tips about his former teammates.

He said: “Forest Green are capable of beating anyone on their day, but it’s a small squad and they have struggled defensively at times this season.

“But Andy Mangan has scored quite a few goals and can cause problems.

“They’re a team that do like to pass it. I’m sure Chris Wilder will know a lot about them and will also ask me about them and I’ll be happy to tell him what I can.

“They got a good draw at Stevenage on Tuesday when they scored first and clung on.

“If we can get the first goal it I think it might deflate them.”

Mangan has now scored five goals in the last three games, including a first-half hat-trick at Torquay, in agame Wilder watched.

“Mangan’s on fire,” admitted the U’s boss. “I know a lot about him, he was at Bury last year and he was at Accrington Stanley when they went up, and played a part in that.”

United don’t have the problem on their travels of having to break down a side packing men behind the ball.

“I think sometimes it does pose problems playing at home,” he said.

“When you go away, the game might open up a bit, and the onus and expectation is on them to go and win the game, and that can leave it open for us to exploit, with the players that we’ve got.

“When you’re at home, teams will sit people in deep and man-mark you, and do things to upset you and shuffle you about.

“I understand when you’re playing at home, you’ve got decent support and everything is going for you. But saying that, the atmosphere after the game at Crawley, and at Eastbourne, in our changing room, was fantastic.”