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IAN Crosby admitted tomorrow’s trip to Harpenden will go a long way to determining Oxford’s top-flight status.

Victory over the mid-table side will give Crosby’s men a chance of staying up, but defeat would leave them on the brink of relegation.

Oxford entertain high-flying Tring next week, but end with a match at fellow strugglers Bishops Stortford in the final week of the season.

That means that having won just once all season, Crosby’s side will need to triumph in at least two of their final three matches to stand a chance of staying up.

“It’s a massive game,” Crosby said.

“If we win two of our final three matches we will have a great chance of staying up – but we really need to win this one and will be doing all we can to make sure we do that.

“A couple of results went our way last week, but it’s up to us to get the wins we need.”

A high-scoring draw against Banbury last week did not help Oxford’s cause, but Crosby said that plenty of positives came out of the match.

And he is hoping that continues at Harpenden.

“We needed early wickets against Banbury last week, but didn’t get them and Lloyd Sabin played very well to give them a good platform on which to get a good score,” he said.

“Chasing 290 was never going to be easy, but we gave it a right go, and it wasn’t until we lost three wickets in quick succession at the end that it was a case of making sure we didn’t lose and passed the 250-mark for an extra point.

“There were certainly far more positives than negatives that came out of that match.

“We have done OK of late, but it was the first month of the season that got us in this mess.”

Jonno Evans is unavailable, so Dan King comes in.

Banbury make two changes for their home clash with Welwyn Garden City.

Ed Phillips and Josh Megson replace Jimmy Phillips and Ian Tew, who are unavailable.

Banbury’s failure to beat Oxford last week leaves them 54 off top spot, and captain Ian Hawtin concedes his side are probably playing for the second place.

“Obviously it’s not mathematically impossible for us to finish top, but Wycombe would have to have an absolute disaster if that were to happen.

“It looks as if we are playing for the runners-up spot.”

TOMORROW’S SIDES

Oxford (v Harpenden, away): from Perkin, Sandbach, Laudat, Canning, Porter, Crosby (capt), Van Dyk, King, Mendis, I Evans, Sutherland, Geeson-Brown.

Banbury (v Welwyn Garden City, home): L Sabin, E Phillips, Haupt, Hawkes, West, Cater, Blanchard, Ryan, Hawtin (capt), Wright, J Megson.