Will Lankshear has assessed Oxford United's chances of staying in the Championship following a dramatic draw to Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Easter Monday.
Will Lankshear has sent a two-word message following Oxford United's dramatic draw to Portsmouth. The Tottenham Hotspur loanee fired the U's into a short-lived lead at Fratton Park on Easter Monday, scoring his ninth goal of the Championship campaign.
Keshi Anderson broke the deadlock on the south coast inside the opening quarter of an hour. Then, a few moments later, Connor Ogilvie took the wind out of his side's sails when he was given his marching orders after diving into a tackle on Stanley Mills.
Brodie Spencer levelled proceedings shortly after the break before Lankshear put Oxford United ahead. The 20-year-old striker leapt in front of his marker, leaving Nicolas Schmid rooted to the spot as he headed the ball into the top far corner.
Lankshear wheeled away in celebration before spreading his arms in front of the home supporters. The visitors' lead didn't last long, with Andre Dozzell pulling one back for John Mousinho's side in the final minutes of the game.
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Although Oxford United remain in the bottom three of the Championship, only four points separate them from West Brom in 20th, sandwiching Leicester City and Portsmouth.
The U's still have five games to climb out of the relegation zone, with one of those against Sheffield Wednesday, who have been rooted to the bottom of the table this season.
Nevertheless, after the draw to Pompey, Lankshear reflected on the result with a short and sweet social media post. Captioning a picture of himself celebrating his goal, the Tottenham loanee said: "Keep believing."
Lankshear has featured in all but two Championship games this season, scoring nine goals and providing three assists. He also found the net during a win over MK Dons in the third round of the FA Cup.
In an interview with OUTV, the youngster backed his side to stay in the division. Lankshear said: "It is extremely good to see [us fight]. We know we have to. We come out here after every game and say that we have got the spirit, we have got the drive.
"But in this league, it is incredibly tough. I think the league is going up in quality. We are going to need more. We are going to need more going into the next few games. I think we have got that, we have got that ability. The past eight games, I think we have played really, really well."
Meanwhile, speaking to BBC Radio Oxford, Matt Bloomfield said: "We worked so incredibly hard to get our noses in front in the game against a tough opposition in such an incredible atmosphere.
"We feel terribly disappointed that we are not walking away with three points. We need to make sure we improve on conceding late goals like this.
"Nothing was decided today [in the relegation picture], it's my job now as the leader of the group to pick everybody up and make sure we get ready for the game at the weekend. We still have five games to go and we'll keep hunting."