OXFORD United will look to maximise the long gap between matches as their season pauses this week.

Saturday’s home fixture against Fleetwood Town has been postponed due to international call-ups, leaving the U’s without a game until the trip to Charlton Athletic on October 1.

The break could prove valuable as United aim to recover from a disappointing start to the campaign that has put them 19th in Sky Bet League One after nine matches.

READ MORE: John Mousinho points to familiar theme after MK Dons defeat

The U’s are expected to play at least one behind closed doors game in the coming days and Karl Robinson knows they must find the right balance in the international window.

United’s head coach said: “We’re going to use it more to train, rather than to rest.

“We’ll split the group, there will be some that need the rest and some will need the time to train and play.

“We’ll take a lot of time to meticulously plan with the medical team and sports science team to get it right.”

Robinson hopes to have injured quartet Sam Baldock, Elliott Moore, Josh Murphy and Matty Taylor available when the U’s return to action at The Valley.

It would leave Yanic Wildschut as the only player sidelined, although the winger is still several weeks away from making his return.

Robinson has switched formation to 3-5-2 due to United’s injuries, but a brief turnaround in results was followed by defeats to Plymouth Argyle and MK Dons in the last seven days.

Although the U’s would normally want the chance to get the loss out of their system, John Mousinho admitted the break could do them good.

United’s captain said: “I think when we take a step back and reflect it’ll probably be a positive, because we’ll have a couple of weeks to get bodies back.

“There are a couple of players who were training towards the back end of last week who will hopefully be fit in two weeks’ time, and also we’ve got a rare break in the season to work on our game.

“We need a bit of work and it’s probably going to give us the first real break to look at that new formation that has pretty much been forced upon us because of the personnel changes.

“Ultimately, that will be a positive.”