SIMON Eastwood revelled

in his duel against Wilfried Zaha as Oxford United emerged from their Premier League test with great credit.

Crystal Palace won 3-1 in the pre-season friendly, but Roy Hodgson’s side had to come from behind in front of almost 3,500 fans at the Kassam Stadium.

The in-form Jon Obika opened the scoring with his seventh goal in five warm-up games, before Zaha, Jeffrey Schlupp and Sulley Kaikai struck in the second half to give the Eagles victory.

Zaha was the big star in a strong visiting line-up, but the £70m-rated forward found Eastwood in inspired form.

And after several friendlies where the goalkeeper had not been stretched, United’s No 1 loved the challenge.

He said: “This is the first game that I class as being at full throttle, so it’s good to get it under your belt.

“In my position it’s good to play against the best, so it’s nice to see how you defend against them.

“You can tell their quality with people like Zaha, he stood out.

“Sometimes you watch these players on TV and you can’t really see it, but when you’re in the same game you can see why he’s so highly thought of.”

As expected, United’s squad included first-team scholar Fabio Lopes.

He came on as a substitute in the second half and Eastwood has been impressed with the brief glimpses he has seen of the 16-year-old.

He said: “He trained on Friday and fitted in well.

“It’s good for him that he can come with the first team at such a young age.”

While Karl Robinson felt his side had paid the price for overconfidence in the second half, there were plenty of reasons for encouragement.

And with less than a fortnight left until the Sky Bet League One season kicks off, the U’s boss is pleased with the preparations.

“I couldn’t be happier,” he said.

“Pre-season has been very good up to now and we can’t ask any more from the players.

“This attendance was unreal. I don’t think there will be many games to get that anywhere in the country.

“I think people can see the direction we’re going in.”

Robinson is hopeful of securing one new signing before United host Leeds United tomorrow night.

The United manager also expects to hear a decision on their offer to midfielder Jem Karacan shortly.