THE coronavirus pandemic has given Oxford United the perspective to stay positive during a tough period, says Karl Robinson.

A mounting injury list and four-match winless run in Sky Bet League One has dented the U’s play-off challenge ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Charlton Athletic.

But Robinson insists United’s struggles have not dented morale, as they look to build on Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against table-toppers Peterborough United.

The U’s head coach said: “There’s people going through a global pandemic that have got far bigger problems than ourselves.

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“We’re talking about minor injuries to sportspeople who can’t perform for a short period of time.

“Yes, we live in an industry where winning is the be-all and end-all, but we live in a world where being happy and in a good place is far more important in these difficult times.

“Our players are in tremendous spirits and we’re playing well.”

United’s condensed schedule means they enter the first weekend of March with 16 games still to play – six more than this time last season.

The tenth-placed U’s are six points shy of the play-offs, but Robinson insists there are too many matches left to start worrying yet.

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He said: “Even if that increases, it’s only with ten games to go and 30 points to play for that you start looking at how close you are or not.

“We’ve got to make sure that in the next six games we keep ourselves close enough to compete.”

United trained at the Kassam Stadium yesterday as they mixed up their routine in a bid to avoid more injuries.

Robinson said: “We’ve limited five-a-side minutes and we’ve got no 11v11s.

“I love coaching, so it’s a really bitter pill for me to swallow, but I think it’s the right thing to do.

“It’s about playing at this moment in time, it’s not about the coaching.

“They know our style, we can tweak things very quickly.”