Oxford United managed to take points off both West Bromwich Albion and Burnley so far this season at home, and will need to use that as motivation if they are to get anything against Middlesbrough.

It is well reported that Oxford‘s home form has been the reason the newly promoted side sit six places above the drop zone. Considering they were most people’s first choice to be relegated at the start of the season, it’s been a sound start.

Their ability to show up in the big games has meant they have upset the apple cart on several occasions this season. But can they do it again?

Oxford made it hard for Burnley

United played Burnley at home in late September. The Clarets’ previous away fixture saw them beat Leeds 1-0, a huge result for the team.

They came to the Kassam expecting to win, as did much of the stadium. Des Buckingham had other ideas, however.

The Oxford manager made a change to the defence, brought in central defender Ben Nelson for his debut for the club, and moved Ciaran Brown to left back. This allowed Oxford to play with more physicality and height in the back four to deal with the bombardment that Oxford were now prepared to face.

Despite Burnley dominating the ball, they were wasteful with their end product. Oxford can take credit for this because of how well they defended. They limited Burnley to speculative shots from way outside the box.

By frustrating the away side, it asked questions of them. How disciplined can you be? Can you be patient enough to keep passing the ball around, trying to create chances, or are you going to try your luck from long range? Burnley’s answer was seemingly the latter, much to the joy of the Oxford players and fans, who only grew louder the longer the game went on.

Out of Burnley‘s 14 shots, only one was on target. Showing how the attempts they were having were of a low percentage, and were either flying over the bar or saved by Jamie Cumming, who has been one of the signings of the season for Oxford.

Oxford taking the game to West Brom

The game against West Brom went slightly differently. Perhaps Buckingham and his team had grown in confidence following their performance against Burnley, along with home wins against Norwich City, Preston North End and Stoke City, because United were much more involved in this game on the attacking side.

Despite the Baggies taking the lead in the 29th minute of the game, Oxford stayed on the offensive, and created their fair share of chances. West Brom definitely had control in large parts, but had very few clear-cut chances, again down to Oxford’s defending.

They had intent in their possession of the ball, and asked questions of the West Brom defence when they came forward, something we haven’t seen recently in home matches.

As the game went on, Oxford grew into it more and more, and the changes made by Buckingham were having an impact.

One of those changes, Dane Scarlett, was responsible for Oxford’s 92nd minute equaliser after a long throw into the box was flicked on by Elliot Moore for a deserved point.

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It must be frustrating for Buckingham. He’s seen his side show their quality in these big games, but has also seen his side fail to show up more recently at home against teams they should be looking to take all three points from, such as Derby County and SwanseaCity.

Looking ahead to Middlesbrough

Oxford finish November with three really tricky fixtures. They face Middlesbrough and Millwall at home this weekend and next, with a trip up to Bramall Lane in between to face Sheffield United on Tuesday night.

There is one bit of positive news for Oxford fans, in the form of major injury blows for Middlesbrough. Midfield pairing Hayden Hackney and Aidan Morris both picked up injuries whilst away on international duty with England (youth) and the USA respectively. The pair are both hugely influential players in the Boro midfield.

In their last four games, Michael Carrick’s side have scored 12 and conceded eight, meaning this game could easily go one of two ways, making it harder to prepare for if you’re Buckingham. He will need to make a decision to either take the game to Carrick’s side with the knowledge that they do concede goals, or play more cautiously in the hope they don’t end up on the wrong side of a heavy defeat given Boro’s recent scoring.

Boro have shown that they are a side that can score lots of goals, winning 5-1 and 4-1 in their last two games. You’d think if United have a chance of taking points off Middlesbrough, they will need to follow a similar blueprint to the one that allowed them to limit Burnley to speculative efforts on goal and take a point away from the game.

Buckingham is also in an interesting situation where he might have to wait to find out how Boro solve the issue of their two holding midfielders, Hackney and Morris, both being injured. It will either mean a change of system or having to bring in two other midfielders, who won’t be as effective as the two who normally start for Carrick’s side.

This could leave Boro more vulnerable, and see Oxford switch to more of the blueprint we saw against the Baggies, which allowed Oxford to be much more impactful on the ball. Buckingham has shown his tactical intelligence numerous times, and may rely on his ability to change the way his team plays in-game.

Ultimately, Oxford will be underdogs in these next three games, starting with Boro, despite the injury situation. It’s a situation they’ve faced already this season, though, and one they’ve picked up points from. Performances and results against both Burnley and West Brom fuel belief points can be on the horizon.