OXFORD United are ten points adrift of where they want to be after underachieving in Sky Bet League Two, but there is still time to rectify the campaign.

That’s the view of assistant head coach Derek Fazackerley as the busy festive period looms.

The U’s play host to Bury tomorrow on the back of a five-game unbeaten sequence which has lifted confidence, but not their position in the table.

While performances, bar the odd blip, have been largely encouraging this season, consistently good results remain stubbornly elusive.

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The last three games, in the FA Cup against Tranmere Rovers and league games with Cheltenham Town and AFC Wimbledon, have been illustrative of the battle all season – Michael Appleton’s men had the ingredients to win all of them, but came away all square.

The league stalemates mean the U’s remain in the bottom six, where they have sat for all but one week of the season.

Fazackerely acknowledges that for all the talk of positives from the campaign so far, the squad is still some way off fulfilling its potential.

“We’re about ten or 12 points away from it because we want to be up and around the play-off positions,” the former Newcastle United and England coach said.

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  • Derek Fazackerley (left) with head coach Michael Appleton

“That’s what the owner wants, that’s what the staff and players want and, of course, that’s what the fans want.

“We’re certainly in a position where we feel we’re making progress, there’s no doubt about that, but we can’t be complacent.”

The congested fixture list in the next few weeks means the table can improve markedly for anyone who can string victories together.

Fazackerley takes heart from York City, who were in a worse position 12 months ago than the U’s are now, but clicked into gear and embarked on a run which took them all the way to seventh place.

He said: “There’s still opportunities to put runs together.

“York from this period last season went on an unbelievable run and got themselves into a play-off position.

“I still think there are teams capable of doing that and we are one of those, there’s no doubt about that.

“We feel in terms of results we’ve underachieved at this moment in time.

“We’ve not always got the results our performances have deserved, but at the same time we know with the strength we have in the squad we are one of the teams capable of putting a run together.”

Getting the better of Bury, tipped by many in the summer to win promotion, and ending the run of draws would be a good start.

Fazackerley said: “It’s OK going on an unbeaten run, but if they’re all draws it takes the edge off it.

“It’s good for confidence, of course, because no-one likes to get beat in football, but at the same time you need to put back-to-back victories together on a more regular basis to get us going the right way in the league.”

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