OXFORD United’s season has sparked into life over the past week, but head coach Karl Robinson believes his players will have to raise their game again to get a positive result tomorrow.

The pressure on the U’s boss and his players has been relieved by a first Sky Bet League One win, against Burton Albion last weekend.

It was followed up with a 3-0 success at Newport County in the Carabao Cup in midweek.

But a visit to Sunderland represents an altogether different challenge.

The Black Cats are odds-on to win promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt and have dropped just two points so far.

“We’re going to have to be eights and nines out of ten if we’re going to win,” Robinson said.

“They’re the most resourced team in the league and they should walk it.

“There’s no bragging rights with whoever they beat – they’ve got the best training ground, best ground, best players.

“The manager has come down from Scotland and has started really well.

“I think he will see this as a real opportunity this year to get back into the Championship.

“It’s going to be a difficult afternoon.”

United have been woeful on the road so far in League One, pummelled in front of big crowds at Portsmouth and Barnsley.

The attendance at the Stadium of Light will be another level, but Robinson rubbished the suggestion such an occasion should motivate his players any more than usual.

He said: “If it does I’ll be disappointed. Football should inspire you, regardless of the stadium or the opposition.

“Anybody who has a different mentality because it’s a different stadium or team aren’t the people I thought they were.

“I understand the amount of people in the stadium can give you more adrenalin, I buy into that, but I don’t think you should put more detail into it just because it’s Sunderland away.

“We should have a detailed way of playing and a freedom of expression when we retain the football.

“Out of possession we should be aggressive in what we want to achieve.”

The back-to-back wins, for only the second time since January, means United’s confidence levels have been boosted.

But Robinson is keen to avoid getting carried away.

He said: “Just because you’ve won a game of football doesn’t mean you’ve cracked the code. You always try to keep level-headed.

“In the games we’ve played well and lost we played our way, so we had an identity.

“It’s about making sure you never come away from what you’ve recruited to do. Sometimes that’s how simple it is.”