KARL Robinson says he makes no apologies for naming a strong Oxford United line-up in the Leasing.com Trophy this evening.

A point at home to Portsmouth will qualify for the U's for the knockout stage with one group game to spare.

Portsmouth have already qualified and are set to bring a very young team.

The hosts are expected to give John Mousinho, James Henry and Jamie Mackie the night off with one eye on Saturday's Sky Bet League One game at home to Doncaster Rovers.

Also read: Mark Sykes bidding to seize Oxford United chance tonight

But Robinson intends to name a team packed with senior players.

He said: “We want to win, it breeds a mentality.

"I have a philosophy on rotation that at the right time it’s a necessity. But we’ve done that enough.

“We don’t have a game next Tuesday and we didn’t have a midweek game last week.

“We’ve had the rest and recovery. There shouldn’t be a worry in relation to that.

"We know a point gets us through.

"If we draw or win against Portsmouth we might use the Crawley game (next month) as an experimental opportunity.

"But if you throw half the team out this week and it doesn’t work then all of a sudden we have to go again in a few weeks.

"We could put our strongest team out and still lose, but we’ll have a higher probability of getting a result.

"Getting out of the group is always our objective in this competition.

“If I have to apologise for wanting to win, I’ll apologise every week.”

Fabio Lopes could be included in the squad after impressing for the youth team this season.

But Kevin Berkoe and Kyran Lofthouse, who featured in the 2-1 Trophy win over Norwich City Under 21s last month, both picked up knocks in training on Saturday and are ruled out.