PREVIEW: Cheltenham Away (14/09/13)

Oxford travel to Cheltenham looking to keep up their 100% away record, after some impressive victories on the road at Portsmouth, Torquay and Burton already this season. In contrast, Cheltenham are still yet to win a league game at Whaddon Road so far this season, after draws with Burton and Portsmouth and a defeat to Plymouth.

Injuries have hampered Cheltenham's start to the season after an impressive run to the play-offs last season. Jamie Cureton was a big-name signing during the summer, but he has missed all but the opening 20 minutes of the campaign so far, dislocating his shoulder as he scored his first goal for the Robins in their season opener against Burton. Troy Brown and Craig Braham-Barrett are also absent at the back, which could go some way to explaining Cheltenham's poor defensive record so far. The loan signing of Bristol City's James Wilson yesterday would seem to be an attempt to rectify that particular problem area and he's expected to make his debut this weekend.

Chris Wilder has also dipped into the loan market this week, bringing in Bournemouth goalkeeper Shwan Jalal on a month's loan as cover, after Max Crocombe sustained a shoulder injury. James Constable seems unlikely to start after hobbling off last weekend at Burton, so the returning Deane Smalley could be set to link up again with Dave Kitson up front after a hamstring problem has kept him sidelined for the last couple of weeks.

Last time United made the trip to Whaddon Road they put four past Cheltenham in the JPT, revenge for the miserable 2-1 defeat they inflicted on us less than a month before. That was actually the first time we had been beaten in the league at Cheltenham in a decade when Ian Atkins oversaw a 2-0 defeat in April 2002. That said, until that JPT win (backed up by victory at the Kassam later in the season) Oxford hadn't beaten Cheltenham in any competition since 2005 – a run of eight matches. But with the last two matches going our way, let's hope we can make it a hat-trick of victories this weekend!

From the Vaults

Cheltenham Town v Oxford United, 9^th October 2012

Oxford made their second trip of the season to Cheltenham, having been beaten 2-1 in the league less than a month before. This time the result was rather different, Oxford twice falling behind but goals from Tom Craddock, Harry Worley, James Constable and Peter Leven secured passage into the next round.

You can find this and many other old OUFC matches in our NEW & IMPROVED VIDEO VAULT!

Also This Weekend

The youth team look to recover from recent defeats to Plymouth and Hereford in their first home match of the season, as Newport County come to town for a Youth Alliance fixture. Newport picked up their first point since returning to the Youth Alliance, holding champions Bristol Rovers to a 1-1 draw in their last match.

Don't forget you can find full fixture lists for women's, development and youth teams on our Fixtures page!

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Burton Albion 0-2 Oxford United

Oxford continued their excellent start to the season with an impressive victory away at previously unbeaten Burton Albion. The Brewers had Ian Sharps sent off in the first half and United made them pay in the second. Alfie Potter opened the scoring with a fantastic individual goal, weaving his way past several defenders before firing in. Danny Rose killed the game off shortly before the end, turning it in at the near post after Ryan Williams had dazzled on the wing and delivered a killer ball in.

PREVIEW: Burton Away (07/09/13)

Oxford face their toughest test so far this weekend as they travel to unbeaten Burton Albion looking to maintain their own unbeaten record in a clash between second and third in the early League Two table. The Brewers have specialised in scoring late goals in recent weeks, narrowly beating struggling Accrington 1-0 last weekend thanks to a 98th-minute winner from Adam Reed and scoring twice in the final ten minutes to salvage a 2-2 draw against Bury the previous week. Hardly the most impressive of ways to stay unbeaten, but no doubt demonstrating an admirable stubbornness and knack of grinding out results, which is probably the most important quality in a promotion-chasing side at this level.

As for ourselves, we've not exactly been convincing in recent home draws against Wycombe and Rochdale, but have similarly avoided defeat in games where we have perhaps not impressed as we might have liked. Those matches, of course were both at home, where we have struggled for quite some time. On the road we've looked unstoppable, currently boasting a 100% record from our two games so far and scoring seven times in the process. Burton are currently unbeaten at the Pirelli Stadium so far this season, so one of those records has to end this weekend.

Unlike ourselves, Burton were in action during the week in the first round of the JPT, losing 1-0 away to Notts County. Manager Gary Rowett rested several key players for the trip to Meadow Lane, with the likes of Lee Bell, Rory Delap, Chris Hussey, Adam McGurk and Rene Howe all likely to return for this fixture.

Meanwhile, the news coming out of the Oxford camp ahead of this match is that Deane Smalley – who has missed the last two matches due to a hamstring – is fit for this game. Although of course they also said the same ahead of the last two games, so who knows! Andy Whing and Alfie Potter have also been ruled fit despite having their own fitness problems, but the real news is that Alfie has finally shaved his beard!

Many Oxford fans are still haunted by our last trip to Burton, a match I'm sure most of us would rather forget. On the miserable day almost exactly a year ago, we watched our side get destroyed by four goals to nil in the middle of a six-match losing streak. In fact we've never won a Football League game at the Pirelli, though in our Conference days we were unbeaten at Burton. A return to that sort of form this weekend, please.

Travelling supporters can play their own part in making sure that happens. After the success of 'Flag Day' against Wycombe a couple of weeks ago, the Yellow Army has designated this 'Flag Away Day'. Just like then, make sure you bring any flags, banners or scarves you have to match and bring as much colour to the away end as possible. Every little helps!

From the Vaults

Burton Albion v Oxford United, 17^th 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...

Also This Weekend

Having received a bye in the first round of the JPT, our first tie of the competition is set to be announced this weekend. The draw is being made at 10:15am on Saturday morning live on Soccer AM and will see us pitted against one of the following: Crawley Town, Newport County, Swindon Town, Coventry City, Peterborough United, Southend United, Stevenage, Brentford, Plymouth Argyle, Dagenham & Redbridge, Wycombe Wanderers, Leyton Orient, MK Dons, Portsmouth, Bristol City.

The youth team take a break this weekend from their South West Combination campaign after their 2-1 defeat to Plymouth last weekend. They travel up to Birmingham for a friendly against Birmingham City FA on Sunday and the match is open to the public, should you find yourself up that way for some reason. Kick-off at Ray Hall Lane (B43 6JF) is at 1pm.

And if you can't make it to Burton, don't forget that Saturday is Non-League Day! Oxford City, still looking for their first win in the Conference North this season, host 14th-placed Colwyn Bay at Court Place Farm. Didcot Town, who picked up their first win of the season last weekend in the FA Cup against Wantage Town (something of a grudge match, as Didcot manager Andy Wallbridge was sacked by Wantage at the end of last season, despite finishing second in the league!), are at home to Yate Town in the Southern League Division One South and West. In the Hellenic League, both Abingdon sides are at home as Town host Ascot United (goals guaranteed!) and United welcome Bracknell Town. There are also home ties for local sides Thame United (an Oxfordshire derby v Carterton) and Kidlington (v Newbury Town) in the first qualifying round of the FA Vase.

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Wake Up Oxford!

I'm a bit concerned about Oxford United. And yes, if you've read any of my previous articles for this site you'll realise that's basically the norm for me. But why should I be concerned right now? The team are still unbeaten, we're in the top three and we've scored more goals than any other side in the division. So why then do the fans still seem so apathetic?

Home attendances so far this season seem to have picked up where they left off last season. In fact, they seem to be even worse, despite the club's impressive start to the season. The 5,290 who watched last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Rochdale would have been our sixth lowest crowd last season (and is more than 700 down on the same fixture last term). A crowd of more than 7,000 for the Wycombe game might seem impressive but when you consider that we were top of the league going into that match and that when the two sides met at the Kassam in 2011 (with United 11^th) it was watched by 9,309 it looks every bit as poor as our other home attendances so far.

As our campaign fizzled out last season it was easy to understand why disgruntled fans lost interest and started to drift away. We were more likely to witness a spineless collapse to a bottom half team of cloggers than we were to actually be entertained and the frankly pathetic atmosphere around the ground offered no respite from the mind-numbing fare on the pitch. But that was then, this is now. The club has undergone something of a revolution during the summer, with an overhaul of the playing squad and a change of approach from temporary loan signings to young hopefuls backing up a side of strong, 'robust' first teamers. And so far those changes have yielded results – 11 points from a possible 15 and a position towards the top of the early League Two table.

But some might say it's a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. That 'lost 1,000' who were packing out the stands not long ago are now out of the habit and may have lost touch with goings-on at the club. Or worse, maybe they've lost faith in Oxford United after years of false dawns. We've had similarly impressive starts to previous seasons before now and yet throughout the last decade we've been incapable of getting promoted from League Two. Why should it be any different this time?

Realistically, the club will still need to be in and around the top three in January before the crowds come back and despite the suggestions of some on Yellows Forum, I'm not sure that ticket offers or other campaigns will have a huge effect, except to drain more money from the coffers. There's not a lot we fans can do about that – other than to coax as many people as we know to start coming to games, of course.

What we can help is the atmosphere we create at matches we do bother to show up to. It's not just the general apathy that has carried over from last season, but many who are coming still seem desperate to find fault the team. It's like we've become incapable of mustering enthusiasm for the club, even when things are going well. Having stretched our unbeaten run to five games following last weekend's draw I find it astounding that there were some who decided to boo at the final whistle. I accept it may have been a small number, but it's not an acceptable response, given the result and the position the club is currently in.

Comments after the game declaring it 'more of the same' possibly offer more of an insight into the seemingly inexhaustible negativity of Oxford fans. We've been here before and been let down, so now we're just looking for the evidence that we're going to screw up yet again. That inevitable disappointment hurts less when you've been expecting it all along.

All of which creates a pretty unpleasant atmosphere around the club and certainly not one which is conducive to long-term success. Fans now expect failure and are reluctant to acknowledge or celebrate success. We're only five games into the season and so it's right that we shouldn't get too carried away at such an early stage, but instead of waiting for the 'inevitable' failure to follow we should be encouraging the team to build on what has been a positive start and trying to build up a head of steam – both on and off the pitch. At the moment we seem to be undermining it.

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Oxford United 1-1 Rochdale

Oxford were knocked off top spot after being held to a draw for the second consecutive home match. The yellows took the lead in the first half through James Constable but were pegged back by a Matt Lund goal at the start of the second half and were unable to snatch a winner. Elsewhere, late goals for Chesterfield at Portsmouth saw them replace Oxford at the summit of League Two.