AFTER claiming an overdue victory at the Kassam Stadium last weekend, Oxford United now turn their attention to exploiting Portsmouth’s troubles at home.

Form at Fratton Park has fallen off a cliff since the festive period, with just two points collected from six games in 2018.

United are well aware of the pressures such struggles can bring, having lost six of their last nine Sky Bet League One games before last Saturday’s 2-1 victory against Peterborough United.

The size of the crowd at Pompey, whose average gates of almost 18,000 are only surpassed by Bradford City in the third tier this season, can be a huge benefit.

But Derek Fazackerley, who is preparing the team alongside new boss Karl Robison, knows the packed stands can have the opposite effect when good results dry up.

“I think Portsmouth, like us, have suffered a little bit at home recently and the pressure’s on them,” he said.

“They have (crowds of) double or treble the size of what we get at Oxford, but it brings it’s own different problems.

“Hopefully we can take advantage of that when we go there

“If we can produce a performance like we’ve done over the last few weeks then there’s an opportunity for us to get a decent result and put a bit of daylight between us and the teams below.”

Another victory would put United within sight of securing their League One status – and Fratton Park has become a happy hunting ground in recent seasons.

Jordan Bowery’s debut strike settled a meeting of promotion rivals on United’s last visit two seasons ago, while there was a memorable 4-1 win under Chris Wilder in 2013.

In between there was a valuable goalless draw, at a venue which has tended to inspire United.

Fazackerley said: “I remember winning their quite late on in the game and the season before we did reasonably well.

“We’ve had reasonable returns and hopefully we can do the same again, but that will be driven by the performance.”

Fazackerley believes Portsmouth’s struggles, plus the morale-boosting victory last weekend, have combined to outweigh the loss of three players on international duty.

He said: “In terms of momentum, having got the good result last week and at this moment with Portsmouth perhaps being under pressure at home I think it’s possibly a good time to go and play them anyway.

“Of course you want to go with your strongest team, but it’s not adversely affected us that much.

“Obviously in terms of substitutes it will affect us, but it’s a good game.”

And the fact the fixture is on television does make a difference.

“The players enjoy the exposure,” Fazackerley said.

“It gives them the opportunity to put themselves in the shop window to a wider audience.

“There won’t be too much football on television this weekend because of the internationals, which aren’t everybody’s cup of tea.

“It’s two clubs that are quite close together and it should be a good atmosphere.”