Oxford United Women are on the road again in the National League on Sunday as they make the trip to Devon to take on Plymouth Argyle after returning from Portsmouth with a point last time out.
TEAM NEWS
United will sadly be without influential midfielder Kayleigh Hines who suffered a leg fracture in an accidental collision during the 1-1 draw at Pompey on Sunday.
United boss Liam Gilbert said: “We wish her a speedy recovery. She has probably been challenged more than others with the injuries she has had and she always comes back stronger which is fantastic and a credit to her."
Gilbert spent Monday shadowing Karl Robinson and the Men's team in training and told us
"It's that whole one club mentality again. Karl often comes in to watch our games and training and invited me in to see how they prepare the day before a match. He and Chris Neville have been working with us to make sure a lot of things that apply to the first team, the Academy sides and the Women's set up are all aligned, which is fantastic.
"We talked about Kayleigh's injury and Karl rang her to check how she was and say that whatever she needs, there are people at the club who can help with her recovery, which was great to hear.
"Meanwhile it is an opportunity for another player to step up and stake a claim for that position and we have some outstanding players who I am sure will be pushing each other for that place."
Carly Johns opened the scoring last week but says there is more to come from United in front of goal ahead of Sunday’s game.
Johns said: “I think we can still be a bit more clinical in the final third. The focus is on Plymouth in training, focusing on their weaknesses and trying to build on our strengths.”
THE OPPOSITON
Plymouth sit 9th in the National League having played three games which is less than most teams in the division, winning one and losing two. However, that win did come last time out when they were 5-1 winners at Keynsham. United meanwhile sit 4th having played a game more than Argyle.