Oxford United look to continue their unbeaten run when they welcome Leyton Orient to the Kassam Stadium on Saturday, but will be hoping to convert a string of draws into a win this time.
Five draws in six games, with a win in the other, is clear progress for the U’s but Boss Des Buckingham is looking for his side to step things up when they face the in-form O’s.
“There has been a sense of frustration over the last three games” he told iFollow. “At Blackpool we had chances to win it, at Wycombe I didn’t think we played particularly well but we could easily have come away with all three points. Then the other night against Northampton we were coming away with a win and then conceded in the third minute of time added on. So we could have had more from all three of those games but we can't dwell on that, we just have to take the positives of an unbeaten run and do all we can to win on Saturday now.
"Walk around the training ground and the players are buzzing and looking forward to the run in. We are in a good position in the league and have most of the players available again. We should have Marcus McGuane and Fin Stevens available again and possibly Elliott Moore - we will make a call on him on Friday. Then we will hopefully have Marcus Browne and Kyle Edwards available for the last month or so of the season which will add even more energy. They are still on target and getting closer to a pitch return.
"That will be in a few weeks though and right now all we are looking at is Orient on Saturday. They are one of the form teams in this division and have grown stronger as the season has gone on. They have certainly adapted well to this divison after they won promotion and they will be tough to beat.
“But we are in good form too, we have players who can make an impact if they come on- Will Goodwin's header from Owen Dale’s cross on Tuesday showed that, and with our fans behind us at home again it’s a game we are really looking forward to.”
See the full interview plus the thoughts of Billy Bodin in iFollow right now.