OXFORD United have clawed their way up to tenth in Sky Bet League One on four occasions this season, only to slip backwards.

But head coach Michael Appleton is aiming to break the cycle of snakes and ladders when they take on Chesterfield tomorrow.

With the sides immediately above them in the table – Peterborough United and Rochdale – meeting at London Road, a win against the Spireites would guarantee United’s highest position of the season.

“That’s the message to the players – we’ve had opportunities through the season, but they won’t keep coming,” Appleton said.

“We have worked ever so hard to get into this position after a tough start.

“It’s important they try to take that opportunity.”

The midweek victory at Charlton Athletic was United’s fourth in five league games, boosting hopes of a surge towards the top-six.

While the play-off pack have always been just out of reach, Appleton will be happy as long as the gap does not grow in the next month.

He said: “I mentioned a long time ago, if we were still within five or six points with ten games to go I don’t think too many sides out there will fancy playing us.

“We’re six points off at the minute and we have a couple of games in hand.

“If we go into the back end of March and it’s still five or six points then it’ll be a great opportunity.”

Chesterfield visited the Kassam Stadium on the opening day of the season, coming from behind to claim a 1-1 draw thanks to Ched Evans’s 30-yard free-kick.

The Spireites briefly topped the table in August, before slipping into the bottom four, where they have spent all but one week in the last four months.

Gary Caldwell’s side are six points adrift of safety, but did battle to a hard-fought goalless draw at Millwall on Tuesday night.

Only five miles across south London, United were scrapping to a 1-0 win at the Valley and Appleton reckons they will need more of the same to stand a chance of returning from Derbyshire with a positive result.

He said: “Chesterfield have 13 games left and they’re all massive cup finals.

“Gary will be saying to the players that one win could make a massive difference because it could take them on a roll of winning five or six games.

“We’ve seen it before, Rochdale did it earlier in the season and look where they are now.

“More recently Shrewsbury and Oldham have done it.

“We have to be mindful of that and make sure we are as professional as we were against Charlton, because it will be another tough game.

“We almost have to wipe out their position and concentrate on the game itself and make sure we pick the right side to beat them. “

United’s lowest moments this season have come in defeats to strugglers Coventry City and Shrewsbury Town in the autumn, but Appleton hopes such slip-ups are in the past.

He said: “We have to be ruthless, there’s no doubt about that.

“It’s easy to get yourself up for the likes of Bradford, Bolton and Sheffield United because of their stature, but we do have to beat the sides below us.”