FINDING a way to turn Oxford United’s fortunes around has seen head coach Karl Robinson increasingly think outside the box this week.

After a visit from Ian Wright on Monday, yesterday the squad had a change of scene in a bid to get to the bottom of their troubles, which have led to eight defeats in 11 Sky Bet League One games.

The sorry start has led to a vicious circle where defeats increase the pressure on the players, who are more prone to mistakes, which in turn drain confidence and contribute to further losses.

Robinson looked to use yesterday, which had been set aside as a rest day, as productively as possible.

He said: “The players have been in Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it’s a day off and they’ve decided to be in rather than on their own at home.

“I think that’s a really positive action.

“There are small team events where they will be up against each other.

“It’s about communication and getting them out of their comfort zone a little bit.

“At some stage there might be a player who has an element of fear about them, but the team will have to allow that player to get over it.

“These are the small things we sometimes forget about.”

He added: “So for instance the mistake we made when we gave the ball away on Tuesday – could we have made a tackle on the edge of the box, could we have defended the cross a little bit better?

“It’s not just one thing, it’s a number.

“These team-building events will hopefully allow the players to understand there’s elements of our game that you can help your teammate.”

Such a hastily-convened change of plans would not have been possible without backing from above.

While Robinson has come under pressure over the poor results, crucially he retains the support of U’s owner Sumrith ‘Tiger’ Thanakarnjanasuth.

The United boss said: “Tiger’s been fantastic in everything we’ve asked to do.

“He knows how hard we work and tactically how we’re trying to play.

“He knows we’ve brought in good players and we’re close.

“Take the Portsmouth and Barnsley game away and we should have got more out of every game we’ve played in.”

He added: “I think when we’ve had a tactical challenge as a staff we’ve coped with the demands very well.

“It’s just human error and I don’t want to condemn any of my players for that.

“We will criticise at times because I can’t come out and make things up, but ultimately the players know I care for them and want to make sure they play with a freedom which allows them to get results.”