Oxford
will be attempting to avoid a seventh straight defeat on the road
this weekend when they take the field at Wycombe's Adams Park. But
with just 30 miles separating the two teams, and around 2,000 yellows
making the short trip, perhaps the away day blues will be less
pronounced this weekend.
Wycombe,
who spent much of the summer months enduring a protracted takeover
from their Supporters' Trust, started this season poorly, eventually
sacking manager Gary Waddock and replacing him with veteran Gareth
Ainsworth as caretaker manager. Results have improved somewhat since
then, but the Chairboys are still perilously close to the relegation
zone in 22nd, just one point above Aldershot. They were held to a
goalless draw at home to basement side Barnet on Tuesday – a result
which looks highly concerning given Barnet's awful start to the
season.
Oxford
will be hoping for the return of the unfortunate Lee Cox, who missed
out in midweek due to illness for what is now his third spell on the
sidelines due to his health. Jake Wright will surely return to his
central defensive role following the suspension of Michael Raynes and
Jon-Paul Pittman seems likely to feature in some form against his
former club. Wycombe could be without top-scorer Dean Morgan – who
spent a spell on loan at Oxford last season – as well as several
other injury doubts.
There
are a couple of significant links between the two sides, including
the aforementioned Dean Morgan. Morgan spent the latter half of last
season at the Kassam and mostly flattered
to deceive, showing glimpses of talent but little effort and
upsetting some fans with some rather ill-considered comments
on Twitter. Another significant link is Jon-Paul Pittman, who
spent two years at Wycombe and was particularly impressive when the
Chairboys came to the Kassam in 2010-11, scoring one and setting up
another, but was released at the end of the season and snapped up by
Chris Wilder.
Several
mental United fans are walking
to the match from the Kassam Stadium to raise money for Helen &
Dougas House hospice and the Oxford United Youth & Community
Trust. They are setting off at 5:30 AM for the seven-hour trek, and
you can still sponsor them by clicking HERE
or by texting 'oufc96' followed by the amount you wish to donate to
70070.
From the Vaults
Wycombe Wanderers v Oxford United, 8th April 1996
Oxford
made only their second ever visit to Adams Park in the midst of their
unstoppable run to promotion under Denis Smith. The celebrations in
front of the packed-out away end after the final goal remain one of
the iconic images from that season.
Also This Weekend
The
ladies' excellent eight-game winning run finally came to an end last
weekend, as they were held to a draw at home to Exeter City. They
will hope to embark on a new winning run with a trip to Havant &
Waterlooville on Sunday. The reserves are also hoping for an
improvement over last weekend after losing 3-1 to Gosport Borough,
and will be a hoping for a swift return to winning ways against a
Newbury side that have been unimpressive so far.
The
youth team's winning run continued in spectacular style last weekend
with a 9-2 pasting of Hereford United. They make the trip to
Cheltenham for Saturday's cup match, having beaten them 4-2 in the
league just a few weeks ago.
0 comments:
Post a Comment