SIMON Eastwood says Oxford United need to target staying in touch with the teams above the relegation line while they negotiate a run of home games against promotion contenders.

Leaders Portsmouth visit today, quickly followed by Sky Bet League One play-off trio Barnsley, Sunderland and Peterborough United.

A hard-earned point at Fleetwood Town a week ago saw Karl Robinson’s side move up a place, but they still remain in the bottom four.

For Eastwood the remainder of the season is about one thing – survival.

And given the option of a 20th-placed finish, just above the drop zone, in May, the goalkeeper said: “Yes, I would take it.

“I think it doesn’t get talked about enough. We’ve been in this position for a long time.

“We were in it a little bit last season but it felt a bit different because we were mid-table and slowly coming down.

“You almost thought ‘we can keep going for the play-offs’, but this season there’s almost a realism that we’re not going to be able to do that.

“The main thing for this club is to definitely stay in the league.”

He added: “These next four home games are all going to be tough.

“I think we’ve got to be realistic, at the end of all these games we need to be in with a shout and not get left behind.

“We need to stay with the pack.

“I haven’t looked at anybody else’s fixtures, but I can only imagine we’ve got the hardest set over the next five or six games.

“Then after that you’ve got teams around us.”

Eastwood does believe United have what it takes to beat the drop.

“Definitely,” he said. “If you compare it to last season I think we’ve got a much better squad now.

“There’s a bit of déjà vu with the situation we’re in, but we got ourselves out of it back then.

“There’s still 19 games left which is quite a lot of time in football.”

The goalkeeper, who spent a season at Fratton Park earlier in his career, is not surprised to see one of his former clubs clear at the top.

But this afternoon, the hosts’ hunger for points should be greater.

He said: “I spent a season there and it really is a great club.

“We need the points more than them. It’s how much you want it and we need it more than them so we have to show that on Saturday.”