SWINDON Town defender Paul Caddis says his teammates must take the emotion out of the occasion when they play Oxford United this afternoon.

The Scot is the only player in the current Town squad to have faced Oxford as a Swindon player, and admitted he does have more of a connection than most of his peers.

But Caddis, who has only beaten the U’s once in six attempts throughout his career, says the other players are all fully aware of what the fixture means and are raring to go out and create history.

However, the double-League Two winner believes the squad cannot afford to become too emotionally invested in the derby hype if they are to execute their individual jobs to perfection.

Caddis said: “All the lads have played in derbies throughout their careers at one stage or another, so we’ll have experienced something like it.

“But the one thing I realised about this derby was that it doesn’t happen that often, and when that’s the case, you’ll often find there’s that little extra bite in it.

“But I think we’ve got to try and take that out of the game and concentrate on our game plan.

“Obviously, there won’t be fans there, but I think everyone is well-aware of what it means to the people that won’t be there.”

Caddis continued by admitting derbies can mean less to players who don’t have an emotional attachment to either side, however, that does not mean an individual won’t want to win as much.

The 32-year-old echoed his previous comments where he stated that derby games must be seen as just another three points in order for the team to keep their shape and discipline.

Caddis said: “I’m a Celtic fan, and I played in an Old Firm game – albeit only about half an hour of one – but it is a bit different playing in a derby where you’re a fan of one of the teams.

“I can’t say I’m a Swindon die-hard through and through, but I’ve got a lot of connection with the club.

“And I’m not going to say it means more to me than it does to the next person, but we’ve got backroom staff who are Swindon die-hards.

“So even having people like Jonah and Steve, the kitmen, who drop little things in or show us clips from previous games, we’re well aware of the occasion.

“But it’s another league game, it has to be that way.”

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