Chris Holroyd returned to the starting line-up against Luton after being left out last week for the first time all season, and marked his return with two well-taken first half goals.

Danny Crow set United on their way with his sixth minute opener and Holroyd followed up with a deft header on the half hour and a smart shot on the turn six minutes later to all but seal the win.

Afterwards the 23-year-old said Martin Ling was right to leave him out last week: "I was always going to go through a period where I didn't get a goal, but when that happens you need to make sure your all-round performance is right.

"I've said to the manager that I don't think I was doing myself justice and it was right that I was left on the bench last week," he admitted. "I've come back in eager to impress and I think I did that.

"The service for my first goal was brilliant down the left, and I think Tonks and Pitty were really effective. And for my second I just tried to get into a position and luckily it came to me and it was an instinctive finish.

"I'm just trying to play well and I know the goals will come. I'm delighted for Crowy as well to get on the scoresheet too because he's been doing well, and it was a really good performance all round."

The goals brought Chris' tally to seventeen and he praised his team-mates for their contribution, saying, "I couldn't have dreamed at the start of the season of scoring this many but I owe a lot of it to the lads and some of the deliveries. I can only make the runs but they've got to find me so I owe a lot to them for that."

Trailing 3-0, Luton withdrew both centre-halves and changed their formation at half-time to match United, and Holroyd commented, "It was a bit surprising and the lads were saying they've never seen that, ever. I think me and Crowy did really well first half and they saw something that needed to change, but I've never seen that before."

United now enter a run of fixtures against top four teams, starting with leaders Oxford at home on Friday, followed by Stevenage home and away, and Mansfield away, and Chris hopes this result will give the U's a boost.

"I think we've been a bit nervous at home in the last couple of games so it was nice to put on a good performance as well as getting a victory. These are the big games that we thrive on and we're a big club so we should be beating these teams."

As for the draw for the second round of the FA Trophy, which takes place on Monday, he concluded, "We've probably just played one of the hardest teams in the draw anyway.

"It's a competition we want to do well in and we're stumbling a bit in the league at the moment so this is a nice little break from that."

[Match report] [Fixture list] [League table]

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