Beating teams above them could go along way to getting Oxford United promoted

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Nine wins in their last 11 matches sees Oxford United close in on the League One Play-Off positions, but it will be important for the Yellows to beat teams above them.

Of course, you can only beat what’s in front of you, as any manager will tell you, but Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Ipswich means the Yellows have picked up just ten points against teams that currently sit in the top half of the League One table.

Last season, Karl Robinson’s side had collected 20 points against top-half teams by their 28th game of the season. Even a win in Tuesday night’s game against fifth-place Portsmouth – their 28th League One fixture of the current season – will mean Oxford fall short of the points tally they collected against the division’s stronger sides on the way to reaching the Play-Off final at the end of the last campaign.

The next month or so looks as though it could be pivotal for this season’s promotion hopes, as the eighth-placed U’s face fellow promotion rivals Peterborough, Charlton, Hull and Lincoln before the end of March. Winning against Portsmouth could therefore inspire some real belief that they are a genuine contender.

Oxford’s impressive upturn in form over the winter months has revitalised a season that looked set to be spent battling it out with bottom half sides for survival, and the mood around the club appears only to be getting more positive by the week.

Thanks to the additions of Elliott Lee and Brandon Barker, Oxford now have quality and depth in attacking areas and both have already settled in nicely at the Kassam Stadium.

However, injuries in defence may threaten to expose an area in which the Yellows are less well-stocked.

Right-back Sam Long limped off in the first half of the win at Bristol Rovers, disrupting his best run of form in an Oxford shirt and forcing Anthony Forde to cover for him, although his manager has said he has a chance of returning for the visit of Pompey.

After falling to defeat at Doncaster just over a fortnight ago as a club-record winning run came to an end, Robinson will no doubt be hoping his players respond strongly in what is their next meeting with a top-six side.

Kenny Jackett’s Pompey arrive in Oxfordshire on the back of consecutive defeats against Bristol Rovers and Blackpool.

The Portsmouth boss was due to take two weeks off after undergoing an operation to remove a mole on his arm in the build-up to the loss at the Memorial Stadium, but the team’s defeat against the relegation strugglers meant he made an early return to Fratton Park for the visit of the Seasiders.

The back-to-back defeats have seen Portsmouth fall off the pace in the automatic promotion race. They now sit seven points behind second-placed Peterborough, and a further extension of their winless run could well lead to another round of calls for a new manager – as has regularly happened every time promotion looks out of reach for Jackett.

The game at the Kassam Stadium will come too soon for creative winger Michael Jacobs even though he has returned to training following a hamstring tear, and defender James Bolton will still be missing after rolling his ankle ahead of the Blackpool game.

Alex Gorrin’s second-half penalty secured a 1-1 draw for Oxford in the reverse fixture at Fratton Park at the end of November, a result that lifted U’s out of the relegation zone on goal difference alone – highlighting just how impressive their progress has been in recent weeks.

Beating Portsmouth in last season’s play-off semi-finals left Oxford just one ultimately doomed step from promotion glory, and although a victory on Tuesday night will not provide such a direct route to potential success, it could go a long way to turning Robinson’s side from promotion hopefuls to genuine contenders.

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