The Yellows secured a statement 1-0 win over second-placed Stockport County on Tuesday night to rise to third in League One with two games in hand on Jimmy McNulty's side.

Mark Harris' fifth goal of the season proved the winner as he found joy in behind the Hatters' back line, tucking away Siriki Dembele's low ball across.

The first half strike meant the U's had to dig deep to keep creating chances whilst defending their box to see out a huge three points at the Kassam Stadium.

Head coach Ramsey went on to make some bold admissions after full time: "This is definitely the performance that makes me most proud today.

"Our out-of-possession stuff, we can't fault the boys for that.

Mo Missanga wins a foul after dribbling into a dangerous area (Image: Steve Daniels)

"But today, we showed a lot more courage and belief that we can play through teams consistently through the 90 minutes.

"It doesn't matter if they're coming man-to-man. We've got more time than we think.

"There are solutions out there for us and we've just got to utilise them. I thought we did that really well today."

The former Arsenal midfielder added: "On those occasions when you do get it right, we're a hard team to stop.

"We create the overloads, progress up the pitch really nicely and create really high-quality chances."

Despite what was a monumental result for the U's, beating a top third-tier side amid many off-field struggles of late, Ramsey still demands more from his side.

The ex-Wales international revealed what he wants to see United improve on going forward.

Aaron Ramsey pumps his fists in front of the crowd (Image: Steve Daniels)

The 35-year-old continued: "If there is one thing that I would want a little bit more, it would be just to see out the game a little bit easier.

"There were a couple of moments, again, where the transition was on and there were big spaces for us to exploit, but we just rushed the pass or we tried to go one pass too soon."

With Oxford having spent a large chunk of the season so far with games in hand on the rest of the league, the team have gone under the radar with their results and performances.

However, the Yellows now sit third in the table, still with two hands on second-placed Stockport and one on league leaders Huddersfield Town.

Mark Harris scores his fifth goal of the season (Image: Steve Daniels)

Should the U's those games, they will be sitting pretty at the top of the division.

Ramsey finished: "It has been a while to try and make up some ground because we've had so many games at this point.

"It was nice tonight to play one of those games where we had the chance to jump up a few places.

"It was really important for us to take full advantage of that."