OXFORD United are determined to stay in the box seat for the play-offs - and beating Burton at home tomorrow will go a long way towards that.

The U's have already won 2-1 against Nigel Clough's team, at the Pirelli Stadium last August when they came back from a goal down thanks to Rob Duffy's brace.

But the Brewers are on a good run at the moment - five games without defeat - and their defensive record is as good as anyone's - apart from Oxford and Dagenham - in the Conference.

Oxford are on 71 points, six ahead of Albion, who have a game in hand, and they want to stay out in front of the chasing pack so that reaching the play-offs remains in their hands.

Manager Jim Smith would not go so far as to say that Burton is a bigger game than Monday's clash with Dagenham, but it is just as significant.

"Burton is equally as important, because they're in the mix," he said.

"But from our point of view, it doesn't matter who we're playing, we have to get results against them and if we keep doing that, there's nowt anybody else can do."

In their last five games, Cloughie's men have beaten Woking 2-1, Forest Green 1-0 and Morecambe 2-1, all at home, and drawn 0-0 at Gravesend and Kiddermin- ster.

The only goal they have conceded in the past nine hours of football was a penalty, against Morecambe.

And in their ranks they have one of those modern-day rarities - a one-club career servant.

Darren Stride recently broke the club's long-service appearance record when he played his 568th game for Burton.

The captain has played in every position except left back. He's played twice in goal - and in one of those two matches, he saved a penalty!

This season he has been moved back to centre half, and has played a big part in Burton's miserly defence, with just 40 goals conceded in 39 games.

That's bettered only by Billy Turley and his defence, who have shipped just 30 league goals, and champions elect Dagenham, who have conceded 38.

Smith feels the U's confidence should get a lift from their fine second-half attacking performance against the Daggers.

"They should kick on from there," he said.

But it still rankles with him that United didn't win the televised game, especially with Yemi Odubade ripping their opponents apart.

"We got more ball to Yemi in the second half - we didn't get enough good balls to him in the first half.

"Conceding the goal reasonably early put us on the back foot a little bit. A few choice words at half-time lifted them up and we went for it.

"Burge missed an open goal, an absolute sitter. And Marvin Robinson . . . we should have won comfortably in the end. But that's the story of our season."

The first-half tactics didn't really work, with Chris Zebroski isolated when he could have done with one of the other front men closer to him.

But Smith said there was a reason why Odubade and Andy Burgess were asked to operate close to the flanks.

"We played 3-4-3 with two wide men because we knew Dagenham try to hit pretty much one-touch football from the back, and we wanted to deny them that, but it didn't work out.

"They weren't as aggressive as I thought they would have been.

"I put young Chris on his own up front, which is hard, very hard, for him, and he came off. But the two lads who went on (Duffy and Robinson), put a lot of pressure on their back four and that maybe helped towards our second goal.

"We should have won the game. But our story all season has been missing goals."