A REFRESHED Oxford United will return to action tomorrow hoping to pick up where they left off.

The postponement of last weekend’s fixture created an 11-day window between games which has allowed the squad to recharge their batteries.

After being given five days off, the squad returned on Monday for a tough double session.

A behind-closed-doors game which finished 2-2 with Millwall Under 23s followed on Tuesday in a bid to blow away some of the cobwebs.

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Karl Robinson is expecting some lingering effects of the break to still be there at Southend United.

But the U’s head coach is confident the gap has not slowed the momentum generated by a 14-game unbeaten run.

“No, they’ve trained brilliantly this week,” he said.

“It was something we were conscious of, but we’ve seen nothing like that from the players.

“There will be a rustiness to us, you always get that.

“The Premier League and Championship games this week won’t look like they were before the players went away (for the international break).

“On Monday we did testing and all the data was down.

“We know where the data should be on a Monday and having not played they were quite a lot below that.

“It means the body has been rested. Then you build it up.

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“We were a bit sloppy against Millwall if I’m being honest, but when we got it going and found a rhythm again we were good.”

Given United may not be firing on all cylinders immediately, Robinson is pleased Southend were also without a game last weekend.

But any short-term drawbacks should be outweighed by the longer-term benefits, both physically and mentally.

Robinson said: “Because of the personalities we have, we’re always demanding from each other.

“If you keep doing it people can switch off.

“It’s nice we’ve not seen each other for a few days, which is the politest way of putting it.”

The downtime has allowed several players to shake off minor fitness issues which have troubled them for several weeks.

Chris Cadden is among those to be feeling the benefit.

He said: “It was a struggle for a bit with a hamstring niggle.

“It’s gone now so the break has probably done me the world of good.”