OXFORD United are attempting to put their season so far behind them by starting with a clean slate tonight.

Four defeats from five games have seen last season’s Sky Bet League One play-off finalists slip to the bottom of the table.

While performances have in large part been positive, they need results quickly to avoid getting stuck in a battle at the bottom.

Boss Karl Robinson was in an upbeat mood yesterday as they searched for a way forward ahead of hosting Milton Keynes Dons tonight.

He said: “We have to make sure we stick together and embrace the moment we have working with each other.

“It’s important we keep that positive mental attitude.

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“We’re going to lose more games, it’s part and parcel of the industry we love.

“Did it affect my weekend? 100 per cent.

“On Sunday night I was sat there laughing about something and then all of a sudden it’s like a big hammer hits you over the head and you remember a goal going in and how you felt.

“You carry guilt for the people who support the club that we’ve not won it for them.

“I think everybody can see it hurts us when we lose, but equally it can’t affect what you do in the following week.”

Robinson does feel there are plenty of good signs which suggest it will not take much to change their fortunes.

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And in a bid to draw a line under what has gone before, Robinson has gone back to a tactic used by multiple U’s managers in the recent past.

“We’ve put it into five game blocks and thank God the last five have gone,” he said. “We’ve got a new block of five and we have a target.

“That’s how we’ll look at things moving forward.

“There are a lot of things that are really positive.

“I have a responsibility to stay true to who we are and who we want to be. That will never change.”

Robinson passed 550 games as a manager earlier this month, during which time he has endured plenty of similar spells.

“That experience doesn’t half help you deal with situations,” he said.

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“One thing about us all is we don’t change, we’re the same when we win or lose. We’re honest with our internal criticism, but equally loud with our support of each other.”

More than half those games came while in charge of tomorrow’s opponents and Robinson is full of praise for Dons boss Russell Martin.

He said: “All the things we did (at MK) I’m immensely proud of, but Russell has done an amazing job.

“He’s brave as a manager.

“He’s very similar to me when I first started – things weren’t great at the start and you find a way to stick to your principles.”