NO-ONE involved with Oxford United’s squad knows more about what games against Swindon Town mean than Chris Allen.

Given the number of players signed by the club this summer, more than half of Michael Appleton’s starting XI are likely to be making their derby debuts tomorrow.

Allen faced the Robins five times as a player, so the assistant head coach would be a useful source of information for any new faces looking for tips on how to handle the occasion.

Just as long as they don’t expect him to recall anything specific.

“Apparently I made my debut against Swindon, “ he says, with a furrowed brow.

“I thought it was against another side, but I’ve been told by an expert that it was my first game.

“I’m useless with things like that.

“We lost that game (a ZDS Trophy tie in October 1991), but we did play them later in the season and smashed them 5-3, so I was buzzing about that.

“Not that I remember too much about it, either.”

While the former winger is sketchy on the details, memories of what the Swindon games feel like to play in are much clearer.

He said: “I remember hearing about them as a young lad and as soon as you’re involved you think ‘wow, these are massive games’.

“The tempo is really quick and you need to find your feet really fast.

“I was fortunate enough to have some senior pros around me to help me out at the time.

“We have some lads who have played in these games already so they will be able to help the boys who maybe haven’t been involved in such games.”

Two decades ago Allen stepped on to the field knowing a Robins defender would be able to get away with a tackle from behind early in the game without being punished.

It is not something United’s wide men have to worry about nowadays, but the feverish atmosphere of a derby can make players reckless.

But Allen is very confident the group Appleton has assembled have the right mentality to avoid getting dragged into such problems with the referee.

He said: “It is two sides who like to play football, so it’s not going to be blood and thunder crunching tackles going in.

“There will be a few challenges, though, and we just have to make sure we’re disciplined in the way we go about it.

“We’re fortunate we don’t have any volatile players where you say something to them and they go mad anyway.

“We have really good professionals who are good in training and on the day.

“We’re confident they will be in control on Saturday.”

“We have to be energetic and enthusiastic, but in a disciplined manner.”