KARL Robinson has urged Oxford United to set up a grandstand finish to the Sky Bet League One season.
The U’s take on another promotion contender tonight, as fifth-placed Doncaster Rovers visit the Kassam Stadium (7pm).
Ninth-placed United have been within six points of the play-offs since January 23, but one win in their last seven matches has stopped them breaking into the top six.
A familiar failing during that run has been their failure to convert possession a goals and Robinson challenged his players to throw caution to the wind in the final 13 games of the season.
Read also: Karl Robinson distances himself from Birmingham job
United’s head coach said: “Let’s get on that rollercoaster and let’s enjoy it.
“Let’s be risky, let’s be aggressive, let’s get people on the edge of their seats.
“If we think we’re tired we will be, we’ve got to perform with energy.
“There’s a lot more left in us and we’ve got to start tapping into the reserves we know are there.
“These are incredibly gifted athletes and there’s so much more to come.”
United have played on the front foot against several of the division’s top teams recently, without tasting victory.
It was the same plan against leaders Hull City on Saturday, when the U’s could not capitalise on early pressure and fell to a 2-0 defeat.
LISTEN: Oxford United's clash with Doncaster previewed
But Robinson insists United must keep taking the game to their opponents.
He said: “I want to create a really exciting end to the season.
“If we want to do that, we’ve got to start being more aggressive than ever.
“We went into the game on Saturday with a really aggressive mindset.
“I thought it worked, except for the turnover in possession when it looked like we were getting done in certain areas.
“I hear other managers talking about processes.
“This isn’t about a process, this is the here and now for us.
“We feel if we’re aggressive we’re good, and that’s got to be our mindset going forward.”
Josh Ruffels was one of the players who went close to scoring at Hull and the left back feels United must apply pressure more consistently.
He said: “Keeping teams locked in the final third is something we need to do a little bit better and maybe not going too long, too early.
“There’s not much turnaround time, so we’ll try to work on that as hard as we can to improve.”
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