CHRIS Wilder thanked Oxford United’s supporters for their welcome on his first return to the Kassam Stadium and hoped the next visit with Northampton Town would be in a promotion battle.

The ex-United manager admitted to feeling nervous about what the response from fans would be towards him on Tuesday night, 15 months after leaving for the Cobblers.

But the reaction when he walked out just before kick-off was generally positive.

He said: “It was a strange one, I was never going to be sliding down the touchline on my knees if we scored, that’s how I am because I had fantastic days here.

“People have come up and I think they understand that period of the club and where it was and the days we had.

“I appreciated that and thank the supporters for that.”

The 1-1 draw kept United 16th in Sky Bet League Two, while it confirmed the end of 11th-placed Northampton’s play-off hopes.

Wilder is keen to see both make strides this summer.

“Hopefully we’ll come back here next year and it will be two teams battling it out to get out of the league,” he said.