Oxford United kick off the new Sky Bet League 1 season away at Sunderland on Saturday. Here we have a full guide to the game.
TEAM NEWS
United kick off the new season with six new faces. Alex Rodriguez-Gorrin returns to the club where he started his English career, Tariqe Fosu and Anthony Forde are pressing for places on the wings, Ben Woodburn has arrived from Liverpool and Elliott Moore signed from Leicester City yesterday to join Chris Cadden in the defensive options.
Gorrin will wear the number 6 but have Rodriguez on it - Gorrin is his mother's name, Rodriguez is his father's - and is likely to start in a very competitive midfield where Cameron Brannagan, James Henry, Mark Sykes and Jamie Hanson have all pressed their claims in pre-season.
Jamie Mackie is fit up front where Fosu, Henry, fit-again Rob Hall and Woodburn will all be hoping for a chance to shine at the Stadium of Light.
Moore meanwhile trained yesterday and challenges John Mousinho and Rob Dickie for a start in central defence.
See Karl Robinson previewing the game in iFollow right now, plus Josh Ruffels in the Preview Show...
THE OPPOSITION
Sunderland fell at the final hurdle last season but boss Jack Ross has five new faces in his squad and with over 30,000 expected it should be a fantastic occasion.
“I don’t think it matters if you’re a player or a manager, I think everybody looks forward to the start of a new season and the fresh challenges it brings,” Ross said yesterday.
“There’s always a freshness to it, full stop, and in terms of for us, although we had a summer of uncertainty really with many non-football issues, from a football perspective squad-wise from where we were last summer compared to this it should stand us in good stead."
TICKETS
Tickets are no longer available online but can be bought on the day at the same price as listed below. Adults with cash can pay at the turnstile while concessions or those paying with a debit or credit card needs to go in to the ticket office to purchase. The ticket office at Sunderland is open from 10am until kick off.
All collections must be made from OUFC before 3pm Friday, after which time all collections will be sent to Sunderland where they are available from 2pm at the matchday collection point in the ticket office located within Black Cat House.
United fans will be in the North Stand, Upper Tier 3.
Prices are:
| Adults | £20 |
| Over 65 | £17 |
| Under 22 | £12 |
| Under 16 | £7 |
Wheelchair/Ambulant: £20 (appropriate aged based concession can be charged). Personal Assistant: F.O.C
London Road Club
Departs Stadium 7:30am
Kidlington 7:45 am
Adult Member £35
Adult Non Member £37
U18 Member £33
U18 non Member £35
Call 01865 337533 to book
FOLLOW IT LIVE
You can hear the whole game live in the UK and see it abroad in iFollow - sign up now for a brand new season.
OUFCOfficial will be tweeting throughout the game, you can follow it in Match Live right here on the website and the official report goes live with a full gallery here on the final whistle.
THE PLAYLIST
Want to get in the mood for the game? Then search for Oxford United Official on Spotify where we bring you a new playlist for every away journey, plus the dressing room playlist. The Playlist, usually compiled with the help of John Mousinho, is available right now and is always flexible: let us know on Twitter if you have any more to add to help get the Yellow Army in the mood as we head north for the big kick off.