IT is often said the first step to dealing with a problem is admitting it is there in the first place.

Oxford United’s squad confronted their elephant in the room on Monday with a team meeting where the players were left under no illusions about their predicament in Sky Bet League Two.

With 15 games remaining and the U’s just four points above the relegation zone, now is the time to front up.

“We spoke at the start of the week and got everything out,” United winger Alex MacDonald said.

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“We’re under no illusions, we’re not naive enough to know we’re in a bit of a scrap.

“It’s something the whole team, staff and fans we’re all rooting for the same outcome – and that’s to be safe come the end of the season.

“With the squad we have we’re not asking too much.

“As players we know we’re in a situation, but it’s one we’re fully confident we’re going to get out of it come the end of the season.”

Key to United’s hopes are home games against several sides also in the mix at the wrong end of the table.

The first comes against Mansfield Town tomorrow, a fixture which MacDonald acknowledged carried more importance than a run-of-the-mill League Two game.

He said: “The focus is on Mansfield, we’ve had a solid week’s training and it’s all gearing up to the game.

“We’re going to come off that pitch having no regrets.

“We’re buzzing for Saturday, we’re looking forward to it.

“There’s a lot of pressure on the game, it’s at home, but it’s one we’re relishing.”

MacDonald was forced to sit out last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Burton Albion, due to a clause in his deadline day move to United from the Pirelli Stadium.

The 24-year-old is likely to come straight back into the side and even though he has been at the club less than a month, the forward, who was part of a Plymouth Argyle side which beat the drop in 2011-12, believes there are reasons to be optimistic.

He said: “You look around the dressing room and hope you can say the same for every other individual in there.

“There’s no egos in this team and I think that’s a great start for us.

“We know we’re down here in this fight together.”

He added: “Failure’s not coming into our minds, we’re using the pressure to spur us on and hopefully we’ll thrive on it come Saturday and for the rest of the season.

“We’re going to be doing our utmost to make sure the pressure is relieved as quickly as possible, not just for us, but for the fans.”

  • ALEX MacDonald is hoping to help earn a slice of luck tomorrow – just as he did against Mansfield Town earlier in the season.

A fortnight after Oxford United lost 2-1 at Field Mill, MacDonald’s Burton Albion visited Nottinghamshire.

And the winger opened the scoring in a 2-1 win with a shot which found the net with the help of a couple of defenders.

MacDonald will be doing all he can to help United tomorrow and thinks the only way to get the rub of the green, like he had in August, is through hard graft.

“It took about 16 deflections on the way in,” he said.

“We need that bit of Lady Luck, but you don’t just get it, you’ve got to earn it.

“You don’t get given things like that or a result, first of all you’ve got to work hard and show that desire, sometimes a bit of Lady Luck will come your way.

“(But) I’m not asking for a bit of luck because I think the quality we have is more than good enough to get a result.”