CURTIS Nelson believes Oxford United’s start has given them the foundations on which to build a promotion challenge this season.

A third of the campaign has now been played, with Pep Clotet’s men only kept out of the Sky Bet League One play-off positions by goal difference.

There was irritation on Saturday as he U’s were pegged back to a 3-3 draw by Rotherham United, who were 3-1 down at one stage.

But it did extend their unbeaten run to five league games, the side’s longest since last December, in an impressive response to three straight defeats last month.

Nelson said: “I’m happy, but I’m not content.

“We lost those three on the bounce but we’re still seventh in the table and in the mix.

“We’re not far off, so we’re in a good position to go to Fleetwood (on Saturday).

“Shrewsbury and Wigan seem to be running away with it, but it’s a long season – there’s 31 games left and that’s 93 points to play for.

“Anything can happen, if we go and win another 15 games that’s us basically in the play-offs.

“It’s something we can see ourselves doing.”

He added: “We’re five unbeaten at the moment.

“It builds momentum and maintains confidence in the changing room.

“I enjoy not losing. Obviously I love to win, but it’s good we can have a platform to build on.”

Getting in the mix during the early weeks of the season marks a big step forward from 12 months ago.

United at the same stage of the last campaign were four points worse off – the same margin which separated Michael Appleton’s side from the play-offs at the end of the season.

And having played all but two of the division’s top-ten so far, Nelson has seen nothing which has given him sleepless nights.

The U’s captain said: “We don’t want to be saying we fear anyone, that’s not the way football works.

“We don’t fear anyone, if you go into a game with fear you’re on the back foot straight away.

“I think we’ve got enough in the team to mix it up with anyone.

“We’ve shown good spirit to bounce back from losing three in a row.

“It’s not something we’ll look to be doing anytime in the near future this season or next.

“I think it shows we can mix it with the top teams in the league.”