SINCE I have been here at Oxford United, I have tried my very best to get to know the city as well as the football club.

It’s something I feel is very important for a manager, because each club has its own culture and character.

At MK Dons, we worked very hard to place itself at the heart of a city that has done plenty to develop its own personality.

At Charlton Athletic I would stay down for a couple of days in midweek and loved to walk around Greenwich and see the history of the place.

When I started at Oxford, I again stayed down for a few nights each week at first and just used to take myself on walks around the city centre.

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Since then, we have tried to do different things with the players as well.

We have taken the squad on a walk along the Abingdon Road and up to Christchurch, we had a team photo taken in a college last year in the shadow of the Radcliffe Camera – and I even went down to May Day morning earlier this year because I had heard so much about this strange tradition you have here in Oxford!

Last Sunday, I discovered another part of the city when we had our team photo at the Natural History Museum.

What a fantastic place!

The players loved the fact it has appeared in the Harry Potter movies and a number of them stayed behind to take a look around.

Walking around looking at dinosaurs with Derek Fazackerley was always going to be risky for captions if anyone put it on social media!

I loved the place, and love the fact that it is just an accepted part of Oxford.

You have the Ashmolean, you have the amazing colleges and the huge green spaces.

You have such a fantastic home for the football club that maybe everyone just takes it for granted?

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I genuinely think it is an honour to manage Oxford United and be associated with the city.

The club has that Ox head on the badge and hopefully connecting the players with Oxford itself just adds that little bit more pride for them when they pull on the yellow shirt.

TALKING of pride, how good was it to see Cameron Brannagan wearing the captain’s armband on Tuesday night against Peterborough?

John Mousinho is a fantastic skipper, but when he isn’t in the side we need someone who has the total respect of those around him and who will lead by example with their performance.

I have seen Cameron and Rob Dickie really step up this summer.

Rob became a father and it has given him an even greater maturity, while Cameron showed on Tuesday what a natural leader he can be.

I thought it was fitting that he got the winner because he is an outstanding young player who I firmly believe will play at a much higher level.

Whoever wears the armband today at Blackpool, we know there will be plenty of Oxford fans up there for the weekend so our plan is to send them home smiling and looking forward to Tuesday night’s home game against Burton.