HEAD coach Michael Appleton believes Oxford United’s fourth round exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Blackburn Rovers will help his side’s push for promotion.

While it was the club’s best run in the competition since 1999, Appleton was quick to emphasise fighting on three fronts may not be beneficial to their hopes of securing promotion from Sky Bet League Two.

With the U’s third and a game away from reaching the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy (JPT) final, failure to make the last 16 of the FA Cup may reap rewards in the longer-term.

Appleton said: “You want to stay in competitions as long as you possibly can.

“The reality is we can’t win this competition.

“So when it is the next round, we have got a league game and if we take three points I will probably be satisfied in thinking we haven’t had to go and play another cup tie, because our main priority is the league.”

He added: “We have had a fantastic run in the FA Cup and got some great memories.

“It has to end at some point. If it helps us achieve what we really want, then great.”

United return to league action when they make the trip to Exeter City on Saturday, but first they have the opportunity to book a place at Wembley when they host Millwall tomorrow in the JPT area semi-final second leg with a 2-0 lead.

Appleton admitted his side came up short against Rovers and is now backing his team to bounce back.

He said: “We’re having a fantastic time this year. But we are where we are for a reason.

“We strive to improve all the time. We came up a little bit short this time, but we have got a great opportunity to try and amend that on Tuesday.”