Oxford United welcome the league leaders on Saturday when they take on Plymouth Argyle at the Kassam Stadium in Sky Bet League 1 (3pm)
It’s a chance for boss Karl Robinson to pit his wits against someone he knows very well, Argyle boss Ryan Lowe:
“I was his Manager when he was a player and I know most of the backroom team there as well” Karl told iFollow today. “They are doing a great job down there. I went to watch them last weekend and the atmosphere on Saturday was exceptional. Their fans are a massive part of what they do and we need as many fans along as possible; let’s see if we can outplay them on the pitch and outsing them off it.
“Ryan is a very astute person and has built a side of good players who are very well coached. We have that here as well and it should be a really good game. We have a fully fit squad to choose from. Gavin Whyte and Marcus McGuane are fit after self-isolating through covid, Herbie Kane is fit after a knock, Jamie Hanson is available and Billy Bodin and Sam Winnall are back after illness so I have some big decisions to make.
“But we feel we are in a good place at the moment. Having no game last weekend meant we could go along and support the women against Swindon on Sunday and then be at the Mickey Lewis game and it was important to do that, for the first team players to be part of a wider story at the club. I thought that afternoon was a terrific example of how we are very together as a club and everything about the day felt right: the organisation, the former players coming back and the respect that everyone showed in the stands.
“We came back in on Monday and trained well and that has continued through the week. When everyone is fit it really pushes everyone to try and make sure they get in to the team on the Saturday, so we will just keep an eye on things on Friday then we will choose a team we believe can win the match on Saturday.”
See the full interview plus the Preview Show and an exclusive interview with Gavin Whyte, all in iFollow right now