JOSH Murphy will not be fazed by a capacity crowd at Pride Park this afternoon.

The winger is in line to make his competitive debut for Oxford United at Derby County on the opening day of the Sky Bet League One campaign.

Murphy has never played below the Sky Bet Championship and agreed a two-year deal with the U’s earlier this week, following his release by Cardiff City at the end of last season.

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And the 27-year-old is excited to get going in front of a crowd that could reach 30,000, including 3,000 travelling supporters.

He said: “These are the games the whole squad want to be playing in, week in, week out.

“First and foremost because there’s nothing better, you’ll have that every week in the Championship.

“It’s going to be a good test of where we are as a group, so hopefully that can kick-start our season and we can kick on from there.

“I know that we’ve sold out all our ticket allocation which is brilliant, especially away from home.

“Hopefully it’ll be a good game and we’ll pick up points.”

Murphy is vying for a starting spot with fellow wingers Marcus Browne and Jodi Jones, while Yanic Wildschut will miss the early part of the season after sustaining a hamstring injury at AFC Wimbledon last Saturday.

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But the former Cardiff City wide man feels the competition for places is a good thing.

“I can only say that it’s healthy, especially when you’ve got top players in those forward positions,” he said.

“It’s only going to be good for the team and will push us, because if you’ve got wingers that are scoring week in, week out you’re going to want to replicate that.

“Everyone’s going to be chomping at the bit, which is great for the squad.

“Goals win you games and wins get you promoted.”