MANAGER Chris Wilder said Oxford United's players can now sense how close they are to the end-of-season play-offs after their crucial 2-1 win at Kettering last night.

“It's getting closer and closer, and the players can smell it,” Wilder said after Oxford’s televised victory over one of their play-off rivals in a fiercely-competitve game that saw both teams reduced to ten men.

“We move on, the dream's still alive,” Wilder said after his side moved to within three points of the play-offs.

And he praised acting skipper Luke Foster, who along with Chris Willmott – the scorer of the second goal – repelled everything that Kettering could throw at them late on.

“Fozzie was immense tonight, he led from the front and it was a real skipper's performance,” the U’s boss said.

“It was a great start and a great free-kick from Nelly (Craig Nelthorpe).

“To go two-up so early was fantastic, but once Kettering had a man sent off, my players didn't know whether to stick or twist.

“We've got a lot of young players out there, and the pitch wasn't ideal.

“They were a bit naive in the second half, I thought, but all credit to the players, they stuck their heads in front of everything.

“It was not a perfect peformance by any means, but certainly a perfect result.

“We've got to play better with the ball, the desire's good and the backing of our fans was unbelievable.

“We just need a bit more experience in the team, but obviously we're not going to suddenly get that over-night.”

Wilder gambled by leaving out captain Adam Murray, yet it wasn't down to his recent foot injury, but a tactical decision because United felt the heavy pitch was not the kind that would suit him.

“We knew coming here was going to be a real battle, and the pitch isn't good for passing,” Wilder said.

“We felt we needed two targets up there.”

United lost Kevin Sandwith to a red card, for a second bookable offence near the end.

Kettering played more than half the game with ten men, after striker Craig Westcarr was dismissed for raising his hands against Foster.

“Full credit to the opposition,” Wilder said, who added that he suspected the ref might be under pressure to even up the red cards.

“With the games they've had – they really had a go second half.

“I had a discussion at half-time, I was going to bring Kevin off because we thought there was a chance of something else happening, and because in CC (Chris Carruthers), I've got a ready-made left back replacement.

“But fortunately it should not cost us too much.”