ON the final whistle tomorrow Oxford United will know without consulting the league table whether they are ahead of schedule, or playing catch-up.

So will anyone who has visited to the training ground since the summer, because they could not have avoided noticing the boards plastering the walls which break the season down into blocks of five games.

The aim is to take eight points from each block, so Yeovil Town’s visit to the Kassam Stadium as the fifth fixture of the season carries added significance.

With six points collected from four games the situation is clear: win and the U’s are ahead of the curve, draw or lose and they have fallen short.

“It just brings a bit of focus to it and stops people getting carried away or too down on themselves,” said U’s boss Michael Appleton.

“It’s OK saying the target is promotion, fair enough we all get that, but how are we going to get there?

“There will be ups and downs along the way and you’ve got to get yourself in a position where over small periods of the season you bring a bit of reality and focus back to where we’re at and what we’re doing.”

The boards will act as a constant reminder of how the campaign is going.

With a win on the last day of the season, the one fixture not in a batch of five, it would take United to 75 points, a figure good enough for a play-off place for nine of the last ten seasons.

There is also a second target, which equates to automatic promotion.

Appleton said: “The good thing is we don’t have to look at the table.

“We know what our targets are over five, ten, 15, all the way up to 46 games.

“We’ve got probably within one or two places a good idea where we will be if we hit our targets or are slightly below.

“We’ve done our maths with it over the last ten years so we’re 99.9 per cent certain if we hit what we need to at certain times we’ll get what we want at the end of the season.”

The idea arose during the last campaign, when the U’s boss set similar goals for the final 15 games of the season.

A run of seven wins and just two defeats took the side from the fringes of the relegation battle to just missing out on a top-half finish.

Winger Alex MacDonald felt it helped keep players focused and is hoping the impact can be repeated.

“It’s something which has been set in stone from the back end of last season,”

he said.

“We hit the targets over the last 15 games and it was something the manager was keen to exercise this year.

“When you come to a new club and the manager wants to try something like he’s doing you buy into it.

“You’ve got to jump into it with both feet and it’s not just me, I think the whole team have done that and hopefully the first target will be reached come Saturday.”