JAKE Wright had no doubt the unity in the squad made his second promotion with Oxford United even better than in 2010.

The skipper is the only survivor from the side which won the Conference play-off final at Wembley six years ago.

This time United were able to avoid the post-season tension and secure automatic promotion thanks to a 3-0 home win against Wycombe Wanderers on the final day of the season.

Wright was relieved the campaign had a happy ending, which the centre back felt topped his previous success.

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” he said.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’ve still got three or four good friends from that team, but I’ve got seven or eight I’m really close to (this season).

“It’s the same with the gaffer (Michael Appleton), Faz (Derek Fazackerley, assistant head coach), the chairman (Darryl Eales), I can’t speak highly enough about every single person.

“It’s been a pleasure all year and it would have been a travesty if we hadn’t got over the line, and had to go into the play-offs.

“We can book some holidays now.”

United’s place in Sky Bet League One was only guaranteed by three second-half goals against the Chairboys.

They had spent almost seven months of the season in the top-three, but Wright had a good feeling about the campaign even before it had started.

He said: “In the bar in Austria during pre-season was probably the moment.

“When we walked in and there were 250 Oxford fans singing and shouting.

“Playing-wise, Luton away (a 2-2 draw in August) was massive for us.

“We got a point against Crawley in the first game and then we were 2-0 down but Paddy (Patrick Hoban) scored late on and it was just a really good feeling.

“We showed we had the grit and determination to go to the last minute.

“We knew we were going to play good football. We’ve done that all year, but getting those points when we hadn’t played well was important.”

United finished second, leapfrogging Accrington Stanley, who dropped into the play-offs with a 0-0 draw against Stevenage.

Wright said: “I’m gutted for them. They’ve been my team of the year in this league with their budget.”