First things first, with no paper next Saturday it’s my last chance to wish readers of the Oxford Mail a Merry Christmas.

I trust you have a good one, everyone stays safe and we can send you into the festive week with a smile on your faces after a win against Wigan this afternoon.

We’ve been in tremendous form recently, but the last three games have all been away from home: Sunderland, Doncaster and MK.

To return to the Kassam Stadium with seven points is a wonderful return and I want to pay tribute to the players for their attitude and approach to those matches. It can be tiring when you travel up the motorway to places like Sunderland and Doncaster.

We got back late from both games and the next day you need a real professionalism to make sure you do the right things to help you recover properly.

The players obviously did do things correctly, because I thought the performance at MK was incredible.

Slowly, we’re taking away the sticks that people were using to beat us.

Last season, people said we don’t pick up enough points against those teams around us in the play-offs.

This year, we’ve won at Sheffield Wednesday and MK, drawn at Sunderland and Ipswich and already drawn at home to Wycombe, with a big game to come at their place in less than a month’s time.

I’d heard people muttering that if we conceded the first goal we didn’t come back to win: that myth was dispelled at Stadium:MK seven days ago.

Now we have a chance to again show what we can do against one of the clubs in the top two.

I have total respect for Wigan as a football club and for the job that Leam Richardson has done since taking over in difficult circumstances. They’re a very good team and we’ll have our work cut out this afternoon, but put yourselves in their shoes.

They’re up against an in-form side who have lost just one home match in League One this season.

There’ll be a big crowd, people will get behind us, and I know the players will be up for it this afternoon.

That makes it a game to relish.

If you’re coming along to the Kassam Stadium today then look after each other please.

The news all week has been about Covid numbers and new protocols and like everyone else I worry about it all.

I have my family around me and will do anything I possibly can to keep them safe and free from harm.

As we saw in lockdown, football can be a real focal point for everyone and having a game to look forward to on a Saturday afternoon is so important for so many people.

We’re outside and we know the risks are therefore lower but please, if you’re coming then wear a mask in the concourses or on the buses to the match, respect everyone’s space and just make sure that other fans can enjoy what should be a wonderful game of football as safely as possible.