Darren Patterson has been giving a very thoughtful, very insightful interview to Yellow World today. The United boss was in reflective mood as we looked back at the debacle at Nene Park earlier in the season, and was full of praise for the players for the way they have grown in belief over the last quarter of the season. The U's are a different proposition now, and Darren believes it's all about having players with the character to come through hard times:

"The confidence word makes me laugh sometimes. We had a discussion after we'd lost to Burton about what had happened for 70 minutes after we were on top for the first twenty and on a good little run. The first person I spoke to mentioned low confidence. My answer was that confidence was the same as character, and that comes from within.

"Whatever job you are in you are never going to be at your peak every single time. So when you do dip you have to dig deep within yourself to pull yourself out of it. Full credit to a lot of the players here because they have done just that. We have helped them at times. Sometimes players need an arm around their shoulder , sometimes they need a boot up the backside but we have tried to help them. We have also brought in outside help. Two or three of them have been working with someone I work with, a sports psychologist. That's my job, to help them get the best out of themselves. I will always say that it's the players who play the bigger part by digging deep, so they deserve full credit."

United look for revenge over the Diamonds tomorrow, and lessons have been learnt since the 5-0 loss in November:

"I found it a humiliating night, embarrassing, and one that will always keep us on our toes. No matter how well you are doing you can always refocus people's minds. If we drop our standards by even 1% we know we aren't good enough. That type of result keeps you on your guard. You learn from it, come back from it and try to take whatever positives there are. You have to be able to take the setbacks. That also needs the right type of character. "

United have won five out of six away games, but Darren is desperate to end the home season with a win for the brilliant Oxford fans at home:

"It's massive for us. Motivation isn't a problem. If they can't get motivated and not want to respond to the game there earlier in the season then that can't be good. We won't be going with the mentality of having to win five or six nil, we will go into it looking to play as we have done and to get another positive result. We are passing the ball well and playing with tempo. It's also important that we use the size of the pitch well. We did that well against Farsley with a mixture of short sharp passes and longer balls when they were on. I thought the decision making was good.

" If we play the same way then we will get the right result for our magnificent support. They have stuck with us through everything this year. We are embarrassed by the league position we are in and want to give them something else to cheer as we finish our home games."

Hear much more of this interview in Yellow World now.