PROGRESS may have been painstakingly slow, but it has been steady for Oxford United.

Five weeks ago the U’s had lost three Sky Bet League One games on the spin to slip back into the relegation zone.

Stretching ahead of them were trips to bogey side Fleetwood Town and Burton Albion, along with four home games against the sides in the top six.

“I have a board in my office which shows the next six fixtures,” head coach Karl Robinson reflected.

“Not many of them looked too kind, but we’ve overcome that.”

While there was a concern at the time they could be cut adrift, they head into the last of those games – at home to Peterborough United tomorrow – above the dreaded dotted line.

They are also unbeaten in the testing spell, although despite some excellent performances four of the five games have finished all square, meaning the U’s are above the bottom four on goal difference alone.

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It sums up their season – the vast majority of their dozen league draws have finished with Robinson feeling it had been a case of two points dropped.

That failure to cash in has prevented the side from breaking clear of the relegation quagmire into a more comfortable position.

Robinson’s frustration is magnified by the general performance levels, which were reflected in a table which landed on his desk this week.

The U’s boss said: “We have an InStat report and they do a predicted league table on your performance – how many chances you create and how you defend. We’re fifth.

“The rest of the top six are all in the (actual) top six.

“That shows you the team is creating chances and conceding fewer than normal, but we need to be ruthless.”

That does not just mean finding a prolific striker, it is more the intangible aspects which decide games.

Robinson said: “Seeing Samir (Carruthers) coming back makes a big difference to us.

“He’s been promoted twice and that’s not luck.

“He’s been injured in some of them and might not have played a big role, but sometimes being in and around it you understand what it takes.

“There’s not enough players here who have witnessed promotion.

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“James Henry has been successful and you can see that. Jamie Mackie too, the ones who have had a promotion you can almost see it in them.”

United were propelled along last week in the 1-1 draw against Sunderland by their biggest league crowd for more than two years.

There will be a drop-off from that figure against Peterborough, but Robinson’s job is to ensure the performance levels stay the same.

He said: “When we’ve come up against the real (big names) of the division the other results and performances have (largely) been very good.

“Then you look at our performances at home to Bristol Rovers and Southend, then away to Plymouth, and they were well below par.

“I think the players have had their fingers burnt.

“They need to understand we’ve recruited the talent and they have to perform on a consistent basis.

“Winning is difficult, losing is easy and you’ve got to be prepared to go that extra mile.”