Oxford
hope to get back to winning ways away at Burton, having had a full
week to recover from last
weekend's disappointing result.This week marks the first time
this season that we haven't had to play a midweek match and
unfortunately last week was the wrong time to play Exeter with such a tired,
depleted side that must have been exhausted after a tough run of
games in quick succession.
Burton
have had a mediocre start to the season in the league, winning two of
their opening five matches and losing the other three. They have,
however, had some success in the League Cup, claiming the scalps of
Sheffield United and Leicester City already and taking Coventry City
to penalties in the JPT. Their cup exploits may have revitalised
their league campaign as well, with the Brewers coming off the back
of their first away victory of the season after beating Rochdale 1-0
at Spotland last weekend.
Burton might just be one of the few sides at our level to boast top class training facilities. With the FA preparing to open their new state-of-the-art St George's Park – due to be the home of the England team – in Burton, Albion have been able to use the facilities throughout the construction process.
Burton might just be one of the few sides at our level to boast top class training facilities. With the FA preparing to open their new state-of-the-art St George's Park – due to be the home of the England team – in Burton, Albion have been able to use the facilities throughout the construction process.
They
may face something of a selection dilemma up front, with the return
of Billy Kee from international
duty with Northern Ireland U21s. While Kee was away, his
replacement Matt
Paterson fired Burton to victory at Rochdale. As for ourselves,
we're gradually returning to full strength as the injured players
begin to return to full fitness and others fortunately avoiding fresh
injuries. But two players who have featured in recent matches
certainly won't be playing: Sean McGinty has returned to Manchester
United after his loan was terminated, and James Constable is banned
after his sending off against Exeter. New signing Luke O'Brien will be available to play.
By now,
Burton will be familiar opponents – we've now played them 11 times
since 2006. The most recent of those was back in April, when an
individual effort from Alfie Potter was enough to secure a point at
the Pirelli. Our record against Burton is good and we've only ever
lost once at the Pirelli Stadium – in a 2010
FA Cup tie. Burton were our first league opponents upon our
return to the Football League, with the two sides playing out a 0-0
stalemate on the opening day of the 2010-11 season, and we were
also the last team to visit the Pirelli in the Conference in 2008-09
(the crowd of 6,192 is the current record attendance at the ground).
From the Vaults
Burton Albion v Oxford United, 17th April 2009
United
arrived at table-topping Burton on a late play-off charge, while
Burton needed just a point to secure promotion to the Football League
for the first time in their history. Oxford, meanwhile, needed a win
to keep the play-off dream alive...
You can find this and many other old Oxford matches on our Video Vault page.
0 comments:
Post a Comment