XEMI cannot wait to see Oxford United’s turnout at Oldham Athletic on Saturday after admitting the scale of the away support had left him stunned since joining.

Almost 700 tickets were sold in advance for the trip to Boundary Park for United’s opening game in Sky Bet League One.

With sales available on the day, the total could end up passing the 1,000-mark – the U’s average for an away league game in the last two seasons.

It has come as a big surprise for Xemi, who is playing outside Spain for the first time in his career.

The former Barcelona B midfielder said: “I think this is the most shocking thing I’ve seen since I’ve been here – all the fans and how they come to away games, it’s amazing.

“That’s one of the things I love about English football – this passion.

“I saw how many they took to Portugal (in pre-season), it’s crazy and in Spain it just doesn’t happen.”

The 22-year-old came on as a substitute in United’s final warm-up game, a 2-0 defeat at Leeds United last weekend.

Playing at Elland Road was a thrill for the Spaniard, who has been a fan of English football since he was a child.

Xemi knows less about Oldham, although one of his former teammates was able to give him the lowdown which should prove useful if he makes his competitive debut on Saturday.

He said: “Girona played Oldham last week and I have a friend there who played with me last year.

“I asked him about Oldham, so I’m starting to know about them.

“This season is going to be a nice experience.

“I’m hoping to play as soon as possible to see the level and how they play in the league.

“It will be really interesting to get to know English football.”

He added: “For Oxford, I hope the first ten games we can do a proper start and then we’ll see what we can do.

“I have really good vibrations for the team, so I hope we can do really well this year.”