OXFORD United are considering giving Jamie Mackie an extra day off each week to ensure they get the most out of him in games.

The 33-year-old put a difficult start to his time with the club behind him on Saturday with a man-of-the-match display in the 2-0 victory against Plymouth Argyle.

Mackie scored one goal and set up the other in an all-round display.

It is just the sort of centre forward performance the U’s have been missing this season – and the challenge is to ensure it can be replicated.

Most of Mackie’s struggles can be traced back to fitness, having arrived three weeks into pre-season.

First-team coach Shaun Derry, who played into his mid-30s, believes scaling back training will help the forward.

He said: “Jamie’s finding his fitness and he’s now understanding that perhaps he can’t do what he could do at 26 to have a career going forward.

“We can help him, I can use my experience, as can Karl (Robinson) and Faz (Derek Fazackerley).

“It might be the case where he just steps off the plate one day a week, but so long as he maximises the most important day of the week we can handle that.”

He added: “We know perhaps when we’ve put him on the pitch in the past he’s only been at 50 or 60 per cent. I don’t think you can do that.

“He’s never going to be 100 per cent because of the way he’s played his career. If we can get him close to 90 per cent we know he can be a force in League One.”

The strike against Plymouth was the former Scotland international’s first goal in almost 11 months.

Mackie readily admitted his previous U’s displays had been a source of frustration, but is happy to buy into Derry’s idea.

He said: “I think it’s been frustrating for the manager, because he brought me in and I told him what I could still bring to the club.

“I haven’t done that for him because I haven’t had a pre-season.

“Ultimately the reason why I haven’t done it is because I haven’t been fit.

“I’ve been really struggling and (against Plymouth) I felt a bit better.

“As you get older you’ve got to work harder and harder every day to make sure you can get out there on a Saturday.

“I love training, but I’ve got to kind of park that now and make sure I’m ready for the Saturday.

“It’s a mentality shift for me and I’m learning the whole time.

“I’m really enjoying it here and I just want to win.”