Ben Purkiss believes Oxford United's winning run has woken up a few teams at the bottom of the Championship and says his old club must keep focus in the relegation battle. Victory over Blackburn in midweek made it three wins on the bounce for Matt Bloomfield's side, who remain in the bottom three on goal difference, but now find themselves in the thick of the battle and with some momentum. Charlton are the visitors to the Kassam Stadium on Saturday and former U's defender Purkiss said the size of the challenge facing Oxford in preserving their Championship status is shown by the fact they have taken nine points from three games and are still in the danger zone. "The win against West Brom woke the teams up at the bottom, the win against Preston almost laid down the gauntlet for those teams at the bottom and now you see the teams at the bottom getting themselves into gear," he said.

Source: BBC March 13, 2026 22:50 UTC