TONI Martinez believes the physicality of Sky Bet League One means he is experiencing a steep learning curve on loan at Oxford United.

Both the West Ham United striker’s goals for the U’s have come in the Emirates FA Cup.

The 19-year-old admitted to finding Saturday’s league defeat Bristol Rovers tough going, but he is confident it will stand him in good stead for the challenges ahead.

He said: “It’s one of the more difficult games for me here.

“In League One it’s different to the FA Cup – the football is more physical.

“I am learning with my teammates and I think I’m going to improve in the next few weeks.”

Martinez knows United cannot dwell on the Rovers loss if they are to stay in the race for the play-offs, so is fired up to help them get a result against Sheffield United tonight.

He said: “We can’t think about it because we have another game on Tuesday which we need to win.

“We have another 13 games and we need to win as many as possible because the play-offs are our objective.

“Oxford are looking high.”