WE make the longest journey of the season this weekend to Carlisle – and it will hopefully be our last away trip this season.

If we do our jobs right today and then at home to Wycombe, there is absolutely nothing that the clubs around us can do to overtake us.

We can then sit back and watch others scrap it out in the play-offs.

We have been really good on the road all season, winning 13 times in the league when playing away.

Strangely, the only two games we have lost have been the two closest ones, at Wycombe and Northampton, and both of those by just the odd goal.

We have a routine that we stick to for away games and luckily it seems to have worked this season.

It doesn’t matter where we play, we do our homework on the opposition and we prepare right down to the finest detail.

It might seem trivial, but something that gives you a tiny advantage might be all it takes to decide a tight game like we expect today.

If we want any further motivation then there will be around 2,000 fans travelling with us.

When I heard that figure I was amazed at first because it is a four-and-a-half hour drive – probably more on a Bank Holiday weekend.

But then I sat back and realised that nothing the Oxford fans do should surprise me really.

They have stood on open terraces in the freezing cold all season, they have travelled thousands of miles.

From Austria in July to Carlisle in April they have been phenomenal.

The players travelled up yesterday by train thanks to our sponsors, Liontrust, who helped sort out the transport arrangements for us.

The three-and-a-half hour journey allowed the players to relax, stretch their legs, have a walk about if they needed and arrive in Carlisle in the best possible shape.

The coach we travel on is excellent, and we will be coming home on it today.

But travelling up the M6 on the Friday before a Bank Holiday can be a lottery at times as I know all too well.

If results all go our way then this could be a massive day, but we will take nothing for granted, just do all we can to win the match.

The rest will take care of itself.

IT could be a momentous weekend for Leicester City in the Premier League.

Coming from Salford and having been a player at Old Trafford, I want Man United to beat them – but I think that would only delay them being crowned champions.

Cynics say there is no romance left in football, but their story is a fantastic example of what you can achieve with team-work, togetherness and good players prepared to give absolutely everything for the shirt.

Those principles apply whatever league you are in, and I guarantee will also be on display at Brunton Park this afternoon.