STUART Findlay believes a cup run can help push Oxford United up the league table.

The U’s host Exeter City in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup, knowing a potential glamour tie awaits the winner in the third round.

While that is a motivation for the team, Findlay reckons staying in the competition can also be beneficial to their form in Sky Bet League One.

He said: “The manager says a cup run can be the thing that kick-starts a season.

“A cup run is another game to win, it’s another game to carry on your good form.

“The longer you’re in the cup, the more games you’ve got to keep winning.

“I think that’s really important for us, it’s how you’re going to build up the league.

“A win at the weekend stands us up really well for Accrington Stanley next week.”

The 27-year-old added: “It’s important for many reasons – to get through to the next round when the big boys start to come into the tournament, and you can get a massive tie which can be financially massive for the club, or you can get another tie which takes you even further into the competition, and start to create a story.

“All these things pale into insignificance when you look at the fact we just want to win the game.

“We want to keep our run going and put in a good performance at home.”

United have a had a full week to prepare for the FA Cup clash, following the 1-1 draw at home to Forest Green Rovers.

It was just six weeks ago when the U’s faced Exeter in League One, winning 4-2 in Devon.

At the time, the Grecians were managerless but have since appointed former Celtic and Scotland defender Gary Caldwell as manager.

READ MORE: Karl Robinson has no regrets over deals for Sam Baldock and Alex Gorrin

Findlay said: “We weren’t at our best at the weekend, maybe the build up of games took its toll on us a little bit, but that’s not an excuse – we should still be performing better than what we did.

“Hopefully we’ve had the full week to prepare for this game now, it’s a game against a team that we’ve beaten this season already.

“We’ve got no doubt that they’re a very good side with some great results since that game, but we played very well on the day and we’re going in to hopefully replicate that and get ourselves in the hat for the next round.

“They had a few players missing and didn’t have a manager at the time so we’re under no illusions that Exeter are going to be a bit different from the team we played last time.

“We’ve got belief in the changing room that we’ve got a really good squad.

“It might not feel like it to the fans at the time but we’re on a very solid run, we’ve not lost a game for a while now and that’s something we can take into the game for a bit of confidence.”

United are unbeaten in seven games in all competitions, those matches all played within a 26-day period.

“It’s been a hectic run, it’s not something I’ve been overly used to before – I’ve never played in the Football League,” said Findlay.

“To have that run of games has been a bit of a baptism of fire for us, but I’ve embraced it.

“All the boys have had a couple of days to recover and it’s time to show it.”