Michael Appleton has urged Oxford United to make the most of an opportunity this week to end their wait for an away win.

And the head coach is hoping a tactical tweak will boost their chances as they visit Northampton Town tonight (7.45) and Carlisle United on Saturday.

A 2-0 win against Tranmere Rovers last weekend extended United’s unbeaten run at the Kassam Stadium to five games.

But they remain at the wrong end of the table due to the worst away record in Sky Bet League Two, where they have collected just two points from six games.

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Appleton is aiming to improve their fortunes on the road, starting at Sixfields, where United are expecting to sell out their 950-seat allocation.

He said: “It’s a big week, there’s no doubt about it.

“We haven’t won away yet and we’ve got an opportunity to do that this week with two tough games.

“Northampton come into the game on the back of a couple of defeats, so they will be right at it.

“I don’t want to look ahead of that, but it’s an opportunity this week to get a monkey off our back in terms of away from home.”

To try and change the away form, United are looking to alter the way they play.

It could see them move from seeking to dominate possession, which has seen them get caught on the counter-attack.

Appleton said: “We’ve spoken over the last couple of weeks about things we might have to do at times to almost entice them on to us.

“It is something we might have to introduce when we go away in terms of ‘come on then, break us down’, then when we counter, we do it quickly.”

The fixture also sees Northampton manager Chris Wilder come up against his former employers for the second time since switching clubs in January.

The Cobblers boss handed over media duties to Alan Knill yesterday, but the assistant manager admitted the previous links add something to the contest.

“You always say it’s another game, but whenever you play against a team you’ve played for or managed you always want to win,” he commented.

“We want to win every game, but this fixture is probably a big fixture for both Chris and for Oxford.”

United are expected to name an unchanged squad from Saturday, but goalscorer Alfie Potter could come in for Callum O’Dowda, who had tight hamstrings yesterday.

Northampton, who lost 3-2 at Cheltenham Town on Saturday, have six first-team players ruled out through injury, including League Two’s joint top-scorer Marc Richards (hamstring).

TONIGHT'S LINE-UPS

Northampton Tn: from Archer, Alfei, Cresswell, Robertson, Stev-ens, Hackett, Ravenhill, Byrom, Mohamed, Nicholls, Toney, D’Ath, O’Toole, Moyo, Sinclair, Carter, Tozer, Langmead, Duke.

Oxford Utd: from Clarke, Riley, Mullins, Wright, Holmes-Dennis, Collins, Whing, Rose, Hylton, O’Dowda, Barnett, Morris, Roberts, Potter, Ruffels, Meades, Raynes, G Long.

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