OXFORD United manager Darren Patterson has laid down a challenge to his players - to see if they can go unbeaten for the rest of the season.

He knows it's a tall order, not least because the next match is a testing one against play-off chasing Burton Albion at the Kassam Stadium tomorrow.

The U's are then away to strugglers Stafford and also visit Halifax, but other very tough contests are Stevenage at home on Easter Monday, and the trip to Torquay in early April.

But the U's boss believes his team are capable of it, particularly if they can come through tomorrow's Blue Square Premier clash.

"There's no reason why we can't go unbeaten until the end of the season and go on a proper run," he said.

"We've lost two of the last six games, to the first and second in the league, and if anybody's telling me there's any difference in the sides, sorry, I don't know what game they're watching."

United lost 2-1 at home to Cambridge on Tuesday night, but Patterson believes that, once the strikers start to take chances on a more regular basis, Oxford can go on a winning streak.

"We know we're progressing consistently," he said.

"We know that we've got to score goals consistently and that's been the biggest crux, if we can keep people fit, I think we've got a great chance of being able to do that."

Four players missed training yesterday because of strains, knocks and illness - Matt Green, Michael Howard, Michael Blackwood and James Clarke, but Patterson is hopeful that all will be available for Saturday.

Clarke would have played against Cambridge had he not had that flu-like symptoms that affected two or three others in the squad last week.

"James was outstanding last Saturday and would have played against Cam- bridge. He's hopefully going to train today, but it's probably unlikely that he'll start because of this illness.

"And that's unfortunate because James is a kid we're absolutely delighted with in how he's progressed. Every time we've put him in, he's come in and played longer and longer in the team, and then we've pulled him out.

"We're delighted how he's developing, he's still 18 years of age and he's going to be an excellent prospect."

With Oxford in a unhappy 15th position in the table, those on the outside suggest there has been little change from five months ago.

But the former Northern Ireland defender insists those inside the club know otherwise.

And the players he has brought in have been, in many cases, as good as any signings he could have made, considering the money available to him for wages.

But the new team needs to repay the faith shown in them by the fans as much as by the managerment - with home crowds still remarkably over 4,000 - through results on the field.

"We are building and are going along the right lines, but we're in the results business," he said. "We know that.

"Some of the football we played, as we saw when we watched the game again on the video - the first half especially - was outstanding, one and two-touch, but too often there was no end product.

"We do want to pass the ball and play with a tempo, but we have to have that end product. I want to win."

Patterson went to watch Burton in their Setanta Shield victory at Droylsden last night.