This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Des Buckingham will look to avoid an immediate relegation with Oxford United this season.

Oxford are currently preparing for their first Championship campaign in 25 years, and will be well aware of the challenge that lies ahead. Last season, they finished fifth in League One despite losing manager, Liam Manning, in November, and eventually picked up a hard-earned victory in the play-off final against Bolton Wanderers to see them earn promotion under Des Buckingham.

Buckingham joined his hometown club from Mumbai City and quickly won over the fans who recognised his passion for the club. His side’s play-off race went to the wire, but they showed determination to get over the line and finish comfortably in that fifth position.

In truth, not many expected Oxford to overcome Bolton in the play-off final but they did exactly that under the guidance of the 39-year-old, thanks to Josh Murphy’s fine brace.

Sadly, Murphy has since departed for fellow promoted side, Portsmouth, but that will not stop Oxford supporters having full faith in their manager and hoping he sticks around for a long while.

Buckingham is bound to attract interest soon enough

Following Buckingham’s success last season, it only seems a matter of time until he attracts interest from other clubs, especially if his current side start the season off well.

FLW’s Oxford fan pundit, Andrew Taylor, recently had his say on the possibility of Buckingham attracting interest from elsewhere. Speaking exclusively to Football League World, he said: “If Des is going to be attracting interest from other clubs, I would say that is only a positive thing for Oxford United, in terms of that he must be doing a very good job.

“He’s going to be under no illusions that this season will be a very challenging season, and he will be tested, but he got really good towards the end of the season. He had a lot of pressure in his early reign at Oxford, but most recently he’s become good and got the promotion.

“I think he’s now got the support staff around him, which is the key factor. It seemed like at the start of his reign he was almost doing everything himself, but he’s got an analyst in there now in Luke Taylor.

“As I said, if Des is attracting interest from other clubs, he must be doing something right, and that goes to all the players as well. If there are bigger clubs coming in for your players, it can only be positive, because you’re doing something right.”

Oxford United will be hoping that Buckingham can lead them to safety

As mentioned, this coming season is going to be incredibly difficult for the U’s and safety will be their ultimate goal, so if they do somehow stay above the drop zone, it will be considered a huge success.

That said, it has been a busy summer transfer window at the Kassam Stadium and Buckingham is quickly building a strong squad full of talent.

Jamie Cumming’s loan deal being made permanent is fantastic business for the Yellows, so adding that to the acqusitions of the likes of Louie Sibley and Peter Kioso, will give Oxford fans some hope of safety.

Buckingham proved last season that he has what it takes to dig deep and produce results when needed, which is a quality that will be absolutely essential next season in an incredibly tough Championship.