ROB Dickie is confident Oxford United’s 120-minute epic against Newcastle United will be out of their system before a crunch promotion clash on Saturday.

The U’s staged a dramatic comeback on Tuesday night in the Emirates FA Cup, scoring twice in the final ten minutes to force extra time.

An additional 30 minutes was arguably the last thing Karl Robinson’s side needed at the start of a month where they will play nine games.

And their Cup adventure came to an end at the fourth round stage as Allan Saint-Maximin smashed in a

116th-minute winner to secure a 3-2 success for the Magpies.

It leaves United with just Sky Bet League One to focus on for the rest of the season.

Having beaten Blackpool 2-1 last weekend, they are eighth, three points outside the play-off positions.

The hectic schedule continues with a trip to third-placed Peterborough United on Saturday, but Dickie expects the U’s to be stronger for their midweek experiences, not weaker.

He said: “We feel for an hour we’ve outplayed a good Premier League side.

“We can only be proud of that and take confidence from that.

“These nights are so great for us and the club, but we can really knuckle down in the league now and be successful.

“There are some very good sides in this league, but we want to be up there pushing for promotion. It starts on Saturday.

“There’s 17 games now and they have to be 17 performances like this.

“After some recent cup games against Premier League sides we’ve kicked on after that, which is really important, so we’ll look to do that again.”

United won each of the following games after facing West Ham United, Manchester City and the first clash with Newcastle United.

The squad headed to Champneys health spa in Tring yesterday to recover from Tuesday night’s exertions.

And Dickie is sure they will be good to go against Posh.

“The day after I’ll feel it a bit, but I’m only 23,” he said.

“Remember we’re a young squad, so our legs are fresher than other teams and we’ll be ready for Saturday.”