Oxford United welcome Stoke City to the Kassam Stadium this Saturday (12:30pm kick off) for their latest Championship fixture following a two-week break for international fixtures.
PARKING INFORMATION
We ask as many Oxford United supporters to share lifts where possible or look for public transport, thus limiting any congestion. Stoke City will bring a much higher number of coaches for parking, therefore spaces will become more limited. All Stoke City fans have been asked to park on the West side of the stadium.
OXFORD UNITED
The U's will be forced to make at least one change after Joe Bennett succumbed to injury in the last game against Preston North End, meaning he hasn't been registered with the squad for the first half of the season. Manager Des Buckingham has various options for his replacement, including Greg Leigh, who has just returned from playing for Jamaica as a right-back in their 2-1 win over Honduras.
Elsewhere, Siriki Dembélé will be hoping to make his first start for United after coming off the bench to replace Matt Phillips in the Preston game, while striker Mark Harris will be looking to become the first player to score in a promoted club's first five Championship games.
Buckingham told Oxford United's official YouTube channel: "We know Stoke are a good club and have been a Premier League club in recent years. I know first hand, having worked there for a year, the set-up that they have on the field and off the field.
"They've got a very good manager and they've assembled a really good young and exciting team that play a really good brand of football. I'm expecting a good game.
"We'll set ourselves up to position ourselves as well as we can, firstly to perform and, if we can can show what we've done in our first four games, and with the backing of the home support that we've had in the two home games, we'll put ourselves in the best position to come away with that result."
You can watch the full interview HERE.
STOKE CITY
Potters manager Steven Schumacher revealed the status of Stoke's injured players, saying, "Sam Gallagher is progressing really well. He’s not far away from joining in training in the main group. Enda Stevens and Michael Rose have joined in during the international break and will be available for selection at the weekend and through next week.
"Then it’s just Bosun Lawal and Ben Pearson who are long-term that we’re missing.
"Jordan Thompson is ok, he’s had his first day training today with the main group and he’ll be available for selection this weekend."
Talking about the game, Schumacher said, "It’ll be a tough game. I wouldn’t say they are too dissimilar to Plymouth. They’ve got really good attacking players who commit loads of numbers forward and cause you a problem when they’ve got the ball. That’s what Argyle were about a little bit at their place last time.
"They’ve had good results at home in the league so far, beating Norwich and Preston. Me and Chris Cohen went to watch them away at Coventry when they lost narrowly in the last minute, so they’ve shown loads of signs for a newly-promoted team that you’d expect: a great team spirit, togetherness, playing with momentum and confidence.
"They’ve been a tough game for everyone they’ve played against so far and we’re expecting it to be no different this weekend."
TICKETS
At the time of writing there are a very small number of tickets remaining. Click HERE to buy, but be quick!
REMEMBER: The game has a 12:30pm kick off. There are 2,000 free parking spaces at the Kassam Stadium but the car parks do fill up quickly, so make sure you arrive early if you want a space. Parking restrictions are in force in residential areas around the ground and please do NOT park on the verges or illegally. There are parking bays on Grenoble Road to the east of the stadium.
The RES gate behind the Planet IT North Stand will be closed before and after the game, so pedestrians will not be able to move from one end of the ground to the other on that side of the ground.
THE PROGRAMME
Our usual 68-page programme, costing £4, will be available at the game. Full details can be found HERE.
UNDER-18s
Oxford United's Youth Team take on local rivals Swindon Town at the Bangkok Glass Training Centre in the Youth Alliance League Cup. Read the match preview HERE.
OXFORD UNITED WOMEN
The Women's team travel to Exeter City on Sunday for a FA Women's National League Southern Premier Division fixture. You can read the preview HERE.
