IT GOES to show just how consistent Simon Eastwood has been across 176 games for Oxford United that a couple of soft goals conceded in a month counts as a blip.

Crucially, they did not disrupt an impressive unbeaten run and the goalkeeper restored normal service on Tuesday night.

Eastwood’s penalty save from Sunderland’s Marc McNulty sealed the U’s Carabao Cup quarter-final place, putting him firmly back into the limelight.

“I wouldn’t say it’s been a tricky spell, but there have been a couple of goals where maybe I could have done better,” he said.

“But I’ve been here a long time and as a goalkeeper there will be stuff like that which will happen.

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“You just have to make sure you correct it as soon as possible.

“I thought I could have done better with the one at Rotherham, but you want to do it where you get away with it, because we won the game and nobody says too much.

“You need the lads sometimes to help you out, but I’m sure I’ve done that plenty of times for them in the past.”

The Sunderland success kept Karl Robinson’s side fighting on four fronts heading into November.

But if the head coach has concerns about getting his squad to refocus for tomorrow’s trip to Portsmouth, he will not waste any time worrying about Eastwood’s mindset.

The U’s No 1’s priority is always the league campaign and within minutes of the final whistle in midweek he was looking ahead to the next challenge.

He said: “I’m not one of those people to get too excited.

“You know how quickly football can change – you’re the hero one minute and a villain the next.

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“I’m a level-headed guy, you make mistakes and you make saves.

“You’re going to go through tricky spells and then good spells.

“It’s about being level-headed and not getting too high or too low.”

United are now 11 games unbeaten in all competitions, but have needed to dig in at times to keep that run intact.

They had to withstand plenty of pressure on Tuesday night, which could serve as a good dress rehearsal for the visit to Fratton Park.

He said: “We’re on a great run with a great clean sheet record, but we’re going to have games where we’re not going to be at our best, like Sunderland, so it’s just trying to stay in the game and see it out.

“It shows what a good team we are at the moment by staying in the game.”