OXFORD City caretaker manager Mark Jones says his team must not relax for the last five games of the season, despite almost guaranteeing their survival with last weekend’s 2-0 win at Bishop’s Stortford.

Jones’s team are now 11 points above the Vanarama National League South drop zone, but the City boss insists he wants his team to finish the campaign on a high.

“Last weekend was a great win and we played well enough to win and deserved it,” Jones said.

“We didn’t treat it as a must-win, but we did know it was an important game.

“We are still not mathematically safe, but it’d have to be a pretty catastrophic end now for us to be dragged into it again.”

But the win last week has certainly relieved much of the pressure on City, and Jones says he will make some changes in the final weeks of the campaign with one eye on next season.

He said: “We will start looking to give others an opportunity over the last few game that are left.

“We have a bit more of a competitive squad now, what with the new signings and a couple of lads back from injury – there’s more competition for places.

“We’ll look to mix things up a bit in terms of using the whole squad.

“There are some players that have played most of the season, but there’s also one or two that I want to have a look at.”

Meanwhile, Jones, who is still in a caretaker capacity, says he remains hopeful to get the job full-time for next season.

“I am still caretaker manager,” he said. “But all the discussions that we’ve had regarding next season have been very positive.

“It’s a question for the club to answer really.

“I know they are working really hard behind the scenes on some deals for next season. But I have to say it’s been a really enjoyable experience.

“You are learning all the time in this job. This is my first senior management position and it’s definitely something that I’d like to continue.

“All of the talks about next season have been positive, but I just need to keep working as hard as possible.”

City will be back to full strength for the visit of Hampton & Richmond with Mike Fondop and Jean-Yves Niate both returning from injury.

Jones said: “We don’t want to see an end of season attitude creeping in.

“We want to produce good performances and pick up as many points as we can.

“We’ve got 19-20 players available, so we want to finish the season on a high.”

Oxford City (v Hampton & Richmond Borough, home): from Hill, Essuman, Grant, Davies, Henderson, Demuria, Carvalho, Fleet, Ford, Anderson, Poku, Abiola-Daramola, Furlong, Louis, Peake-Pijnen, Ngathe, Piatt, Fondop, Tutton, Khawaja, Niate.