WES Thomas admitted Oxford United’s players would sleep better last night after a miserable festive period was ended by a confidence-

boosting start to 2018.

The striker opened the scoring in a 3-1 victory against Milton Keynes Dons, with Gino van Kessel and Jon Obika also on target.

It was only a third win in Sky Bet League One since early October, and their previous home game saw a 7-0 defeat against Wigan Athletic.

Pressure had been building and Thomas admitted the result and a strong performance would be a weight off their minds.

He said: “We will (sleep better) because it wasn’t just a win, it was a good performance.

“In the last few games the confidence to get on the ball hasn’t been there.

“As well as the intensity to close down the opposition we’ve had the confidence to get on the ball and play ourselves.”

He added: “It’s what we needed.

“It’s been frustrating. There have been times where we should have got better results and times where we weren’t good enough.

“So to put in a performance as well as a win is good.”

The key moment in the game was Van Kessel’s goal on the stroke of half-time, which put United 2-1 ahead after Thomas’s opener had been cancelled out by Alex Gilbey.

It has been a difficult spell for the Curacao international, who has only just returned from injury, but he was thrilled to give the fans something to sing about.

He said: “It’s always good to score just before half-time because you go into the changing room with a good feeling.

“We know we have a great team, in the last few weeks it hasn’t come out, we didn’t play very well but things are getting better.

“The support from these fans is great, especially today. We’re happy to give them what they deserve.”

Boss Pep Clotet was pleased with the intensity his players showed both in and out of possession.

He said: “The whole team worked very hard to get those kind of chances, because you have to move the ball quickly to find space.

“The way the team did it was fantastic, I think the display the players showed proved that the football we’re trying to play is very pleasing and they enjoy it.

“It’s the first season of a new project, but we really believe in what we’re doing and here we showed it.”