While
Oxford's deadline
day shenanigans may have put a lot of people off the idea of
going to Southend to support the club, it would be a shame to allow
so much hard work to go to waste. The team who have worked tirelessly
to promote the successful Ultimate
Support Saturday events have outdone themselves once again to
bring us the first Ultimate Support Away Day.
The
premise should be familiar to anyone who remembers previous Ultimate
Support events: get as many fans along to the game as possible,
create as much noise and colour as possible and cheer the team on to
victory. It's worked before at home and it can work again on the road
as Oxford try and reel in promotion rivals Southend. A win on
Saturday will bring us within one point of the Shrimpers, who
currently occupy the final play-off slot.
It
may be more than nine years since our last win at Roots Hall, but
Southend are looking far from invincible at the moment. A win over
Chesterfield last weekend was their first in the league this year,
having lost their previous three against Exeter, Gillingham and
Burton. Southend manager Paul Sturrock has done is own share of
wheeling and dealing during the transfer window, with former Dagenham
defender Michael Spillane making his debut against Chesterfield as
Southend kept their first clean sheet of 2013. Another new signing
likely to start for Southend is 21-year-old Southampton loanee Ben
Reeves, who has featured for the Saints in the Premier League this
season.
As
for us, the big team news is of course the debut of goalkeeper Luke
McCormick. Expect him to come in for special attention from the
home fans (and possibly from a section of the away fans as well).
Wilder has something of a selection dilemma up front, with new
signing Justin Richards in contention alongside James Constable and
Tom Craddock. And of course, there will definitely be one enforced
change at the back, after Michael Duberry hobbled off against Burton.
Expect Michael Raynes to replace him.
The
match is an early opportunity for revenge for the yellows, less than
a month after the two sides met in the JPT with Southend eventually
emerging
victorious after a penalty shoot-out. More importantly though, it
was Oxford who came out on top when the two sides last met in the
league way back in August with an impressive 2-0
win to secure a first victory over the Shrimpers in eight
attempts. Let's hope we can do a League Two double over them and
reward the Ultimate Support Away Dayers. Be there and BRING THE
NOISE.
Also This Weekend
The
ladies side face a huge test this weekend, as they travel to Charlton
Athletic in the third round of the FA Women's Cup. The Addicks are
currently fifth in the Premier League National Division (the second
tier of women's football behind the professional WSL – two levels
above OULFC). The ladies were knocked out of the competition at
this stage last season by Manchester City and a win this weekend
would be the furthest they have ever progressed in the competition.
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