Oxford United

Image source, Getty Images

On Tuesday, we asked for your thoughts on whether or not Oxford United will avoid relegation from the Championship.

The U's are two points adrift of safety with four games to play - three of which are against sides challenging for promotion (Derby, Wrexham and Millwall), while the other comes against already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday.

Here are a selection of your responses:

Sam: Feeling very anxious. We need three wins out of four to be almost guaranteed a great escape. Derby and Millwall will be really tough, Wrexham have been pretty good all season and Sheffield Wednesday are going down fighting. The biggest worry is the possibility of losing some of our best signings and loanees if we go down.

James: Quite nervous but also I think we can survive this season. Hopefully the Baggies will drop points but all we need to do is win.

Nigel: I think Oxford United are playing some of the best football seen at the Kassam for a long time especially after the January transfer window and the new management team. I have looked at the fixture list for the bottom seven clubs and here is where I ended up: Portsmouth 18th - 55 points, Blackburn 19th - 52, West Brom 20th - 51, Oxford 21st - 51, Charlton 22nd - 50, Leicester 23rd - 45, Sheffield W 24th - 2.

William: This Championship has had plenty of twists and turns. I feel like there's still a few more to come, the last one being that Oxford, the smallest team in the division, stay up and send Leicester and West Brom down. Weeks ago we thought we were down and out, yet we're still here and fighting. Come on you yellows!

Mike: We have given ourselves a chance of beating relegation. However, given Portsmouth's form it may be WBA we are chasing.

Jonathan: Looking at Blackburn's fixtures as the toughest bar ours, I think they could be the team to reel in. Fundamentally, we need to win our games, which I think we can regardless of who might be "on the beach" or not as we are playing well. With a fair wind we could be celebrating staying up at full-time against Sheffield Wednesday in our final home game in a week! Or maybe that's too positive with Derby and Wrexham to play before then…

Gavin: I think it would take the magic 50 points to do it and stay up. So that's six more. A win against Derby or Wrexham and finishing the home season with a win and safety against Sheff Wed would be the dream. However, there could be help in the form of WBA getting points deduction - but let's not rely on that!

Mark: We need to win three out of the final four, which is a tall order. Even then, it may not be enough. But if we do go down, we do it with our heads held high and we do it together. COYY!

Michael: Oxford are going to have to win some very tough games that few expect them to if they are to stay up. But they will also feel unlucky if they are relegated, given their form has seen them only lose to Southampton in the past two months, and Saints are the best team in the Championship right now.

Based on that good form and the belief and togetherness around the club, they have a chance, particularly as the likes of Leicester, West Brom and Blackburn - despite boasting far more expensive squads - seem not nearly as confident or consistent at the moment.

Oxford are also now well used to a relegation scrap and thrive on being underdogs, particularly against higher-ranked teams in the division. It's impossible to call, but their destiny is at least in their own hands - and it certainly didn't look like it would be three months ago.

Derby's hopes of a Championship play-off push took a knock last time out after they suffered a 2-1 defeat at Southampton.

The Rams sit two places and five points adrift of the top six and a positive result on Saturday could keep their play-off hopes alive.

Oxford ended a four-game winless run when they picked up a vital three points against Watford last Saturday.

The U's remain in the bottom three despite that win and are two points off Championship safety.

• Derby have failed to score in their past two league games against Oxford, only once going three without a goal against them (between 1987 and 1991).

• In what is the ninth different league campaign in which the two sides have met, Oxford are looking to complete the double over Derby for the first time.

• Derby have won their past five home league matches, last having a longer run between March and September 2024 (9).

• Oxford have won four of their past eight league games (D3 L1), more wins than they managed in their previous 22 Championship matches combined (3).

• Carlton Morris has scored 12 league goals for Derby this season - the last player to net more in a single Championship campaign for the club was Harry Wilson in 2018-19 (16 – incl. play-offs).

Things can change pretty fast in the midst of a Championship relegation scrap, hey Oxford fans?

Things were looking incredibly rosy at Kassam Stadium at 16:54 BST on Saturday with Oxford United leading Watford 2-0 and set to exit the relegation zone at the expense of Portsmouth.

However, seconds later Pompey snatched a 97th-minute winner at Middlesbrough to end an eight-match winless streak just as the final whistle sounded in Oxfordshire.

Fast forward to Tuesday night and Portsmouth picked up another win against a promotion chaser, Ipswich, at Fratton Park and climbed to 19th, now four points clear of the U's.

With four games remaining Matt Bloomfield's side lie 22nd, two points adrift of fourth-bottom West Brom, whose goal difference is one worse.

Three of Oxford's final four games are against sides in, or chasing the play-offs, in Derby on Saturday (12:30), Wrexham and Millwall, with the visit of lowly Sheffield Wednesday in between.

How are you feeling, U's fans? How many points do you think will be enough to survive? Is it a straight shootout with West Brom, or can second-bottom Leicester mount a comeback from three points back, and can Blackburn and Portsmouth be dragged back into it?

Click here to have your say.

"I feel like the balance throughout the side looks good. I like the dynamic of the front four, I think there's a threat there. I think we're looking pretty solid, I think the midfield looks well balanced with a little bit more creativity."

"There's a lot of positives from a performance point of view which gives us hope for the next four games."

The Dub podcast dissects what's been going right at Oxford United after the most positive week of the season, following a crucial 2-0 victory over Watford.

Robin Cowen, Ben Purkiss, George Elek and Jerome Sale also reflect on Mark Harris' impact, recent encouraging performance levels and Oxford's chances of survival.

Listen to more episodes of Oxford United podcast The Dub on BBC Sounds.

Marc Webber
BBC Final Score

Image source, Getty Images

Forty years ago, Oxford United achieved the unthinkable and won the Milk Cup (what we now know as the Carabao Cup).

Jim Smith, the manager who got them to the top flight, was sitting in the opposition dugout at Wembley that day and could only watch in disbelief as his chief scout Maurice Evans instigated a masterclass in 'underdoggery' to beat his QPR favourites and lift the trophy.

In the same season, Evans kept the U's in the First Division against all odds.

Why do I raise this after watching Oxford beat Watford on Saturday?

Because I genuinely felt that Spirit of '86 revitalised in the team and the fans during that game at the Kassam Stadium.

Yellow flags were waving like a semaphore convention and the cheering was as loud as if it were coming from a six-sided stadium, not three.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Matt Bloomfield's team chased every ball and never gave up, even when Watford looked like they could pinch a goal later in the second half.

You know you have done a good job when the opposing fans boo their players off the pitch at the end.

Oxford United should have got more points out of recent games, yet they are still on for a great escape.

If Maurice Evans' 1986 team did not believe, they would have been out of the cup and the league, but they never stopped believing and that Spirit of '86 needs to be repeated in 2026 as United fight through these last few games.

It is the best asset the club has right now.

Head coach Matt Bloomfield praised forward Myles Peart-Harris after Oxford United's 2-0 win at home to Watford.

"It's nice for Myles to get his goal," Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford. "He's been very good for us and we want more goals from him, as he wants more goals from himself.

"I'm so incredibly pleased [for] Mark Harris – he's everything a professional footballer should be.

"He lives his life properly, is humble and works hard every single day. He's selfless for the team and plays up front and out wide. He absolutely deserves it.

"When you look at the results, it was even more imperative that we won. As I said inside the dressing room, we can't worry about what happens elsewhere.

"We can't affect that; if we get too sidetracked and spend too much energy looking elsewhere, we'll take the focus off what we need to do.

"We're in this position, we've got four games to go and we have to focus on ourselves. There are going to be results that you don't expect or see coming.

"We have to be positive, keep moving forward and keep going after those performances, because it was a joy to watch us - especially in the second half - and we want four more of them."

Image source, Getty Images

The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Image source, Shutterstock

Southampton's Tonda Eckert has been named the Championship's manager of the month for March.

The Saints went unbeaten in the league last month, winning three and drawing one of their four games including a victory at the leaders Coventry.

The Sky Blues' Frank Lampard, Matt Bloomfield of Oxford United and West Brom interim boss James Morrison were also nominated.

Eckert also won the award in February when Southampton were again unbeaten and have continued their good form into April, moving into the play-off places as well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

They meet Derby at home on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield has urged his side to keep emotionally level as they aim to escape the drop to League One.

The U's came close to exiting the Championship's bottom three at Fratton Park on Monday but conceded a late goal to draw with relegation rivals Portsmouth.

"It's really important that we are level - we can't get too high or too low," Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford.

"We have to make sure that in the good moments we are prepared in not getting too carried away.

"We've gone behind in a couple of games recently and I never like going behind but I like the way the boys have bounced back. They've kept that level of intensity about them so we have to make sure we keep that."

Oxford face Watford on Saturday (15:00 BST) and those at the Kassam will be keen to pick up a result against a Hornets side that are now nine points adrift of the play-off places.

However, Bloomfield is quick to dispel any thoughts that their visitors won't be motivated to perform to their best.

"Everything is analysed, every player is analysed, every club, every game, every manager - everything is recorded," Bloomfield added.

"Everyone has something to play for and we are expecting some really tough opposition on Saturday."

Oxford United will seek an exit from the bottom three as they welcome Watford on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The U's are on a four-match winless streak but are only one point below 21st-placed Portsmouth and could leapfrog both Leicester City and Pompey to reach safety should they pick up a better result.

They face a Hornets side on a three-match winless run of their own, with a nine point-gap to the play-offs.

• Oxford have won just three of their last 26 league games against Watford (D11 L12), though one of those was in this exact fixture last season (1-0).

• Watford lost this exact fixture 1-0 last season, having been unbeaten in their previous 12 league visits to Oxford between 1972 and 1999 (W4 D8).

• Oxford have the lowest average possession (39.7%), have completed the fewest passes (8,870), had the fewest sequences of 10 or more passes in open play (128), average the fewest passes per sequence (2.3) and have the shortest sequence time (5.6 seconds) in the Championship this season.

• Since Ed Still's first game in charge of Watford on Valentine's Day, only Middlesbrough (211) and Portsmouth (165) have had more shots in the Championship than the Hornets (151), though 44% of them have come from outside the box (67), the third-highest ratio of any side in that time.

• Since the start of February, only Hayden Hackney (28) has created more chances in the Championship than Watford's Giorgi Chakvetadze (25). He created nine open play chances last time out against Charlton, only the third player on record (2013-14 onwards) to do so in a Championship game: the others are Pablo Hernández for Leeds vs Bolton in February 2019 (10) and Finn Azaz for Plymouth vs Watford in January 2024 (9).

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United's Matt Bloomfield, Tonda Eckert of Southampton, West Brom interim boss James Morrison and Coventry's Frank Lampard have all been nominated for the March Championship manager of the month award.

Bloomfield led Oxford to seven points from their four games last month to give them hope of avoiding relegation from the Championship, while Eckert's Southampton went unbeaten in March - and won at leaders Coventry.

Morrison was handed the task of lifting West Brom clear of the bottom three and took eight points from an unbeaten four-game run.

Coventry have continued their charge towards the Premier League, with Lampard overseeing three wins and just that one blemish in the defeat by Southampton.

Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and West Brom defender George Campbell are nominated for the player of the month award along with Millwall striker Josh Coburn and Derby defender Matt Clarke.

The winners of both awards will be announced on Friday morning.

Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield admitted that he was "terribly disappointed" to not pick up all three points in their 2-2 draw with Portsmouth on Monday.

The U's came from behind to take the lead against Pompey before conceding a late goal with the points shared at Fratton Park.

The result means that Oxford jump above Leicester but remain in the bottom three with the Foxes playing away at Sheffield Wednesday in a 15:00 BST kick-off on Monday

"We worked so incredibly hard to get our noses in front in the game against a tough opposition in such an incredible atmosphere," Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford.

"We feel terribly disappointed that we are not walking away with three points, we need to make sure we improve on conceding late goals like this.

"Nothing was decided today [in the relegation picture], it's my job now as the leader of the group to pick everybody up and make sure we get ready for the game at the weekend.

"We still have five games to go and we'll keep hunting."

Oxford are next in action on Saturday when they host Watford at the Kassam Stadium.

Image source, Getty Images

Matt Bloomfield was proud of his Oxford United side after they held promotion-chasing Hull City at the Kassam Stadium, even though they remain in the Championship relegation zone.

Oxford equalised through Cameron Brannagan's penalty after falling behind to an early Hull goal and created enough chances to win.

They now face relegation rivals Portsmouth in a huge relegation clash at Fratton Park on Monday and Bloomfield feels his side cannot be questioned.

"We assess it by saying that we've created multiple opportunities to win the football match," he told BBC Radio Oxford.

"It hasn't gone our way today, but in terms of performance level and endeavour, the way the boys kept creating, kept pressing, kept at it, we can't question them.

"It was obviously very disappointing to go one goal down so early and another team could have possibly wobbled, but our lads are made of sterner stuff, and they kept going.

"Cam stuck the penalty away and we created multiple opportunities. I'm just really disappointed for the lads and for the crowd today because everyone was excellent.

"We played against a very good team, who are five points off the automatic promotion places, and are going to end the season, probably in the play-offs at the very least.

"Yet we've gone toe to toe with them and created enough chances to win the game."