SIMON Eastwood believes Oxford United have a great chance of reaching the Sky Bet Championship during the course of his new contract.

The goalkeeper put pen-to-paper yesterday on a deal which will keep him at the club until 2019.

And head coach Michael Appleton hopes discussions with other key players bear fruit, although he warned United will not overpay.

Negotiations with Eastwood went very smoothly and were concluded within a couple of weeks.

The 27-year-old left the second tier last summer after becoming frustrated at a lack of first-team opportunities at Blackburn.

Consistently excellent performances cannot have gone unnoticed at a higher level, but Eastwood had no interest in looking elsewhere.

Instead, United’s No 1 reckons he has a great chance of returning to the Championship if he stays put.

“I think I can play higher and so can this team,” he said.

“We believe we’re going to be there or thereabouts this season, or even next season.

“The team’s looking good and we’re definitely pushing to get into the play-offs.

“The lads want to play in the Championship, that’s where I want to be playing week-in, week-out.

“I’ve committed because I believe that can happen with Oxford.”

Supporters will be hoping securing Eastwood is the first of several deals concluded before the end of the season.

Chris Maguire and Chey Dunkley are first-team regulars whose existing contracts expire in the summer, while the U’s have extension clauses with skipper John Lundstram and fellow midfielder Liam Sercombe.

Appleton said: “We’re in discussions with two or three others.

“You know what it’s like, when agents get involved it becomes a bit difficult and takes time.

“We have to be patient. Some you win, some you lose.

“We’ve got a budget and a wage structure just like anyone and we’ll be sensible.

“We’ll reward the people who deserve it, but we won’t get played by anybody, whether he’s been here a week or two years.”

OXFORD UNITED PLAYERS OUT OF CONTRACT THIS SUMMER

*Josh Ashby

Benji Buchel

Robbie Cundy

Chey Dunkley

Jonny Giles

Sam Long

*John Lundstram

Chris Maguire

*Josh Ruffels

*Liam Sercombe

Jack Stevens

Miles Welch-Hayes

*Club have option to extend (does not include players on loan with the U’s)