This is now the busiest period of games. Spare a thought for the Town players as they face Tuesday, Friday, Tuesday games but also spare a thought for me trying to get these out on time!

Right, on to Oxford United who are looking to stabilise in the Championship after a 17th-place finish last season. With financial heavyweights coming up from League One in Birmingham and Wrexham, and Charlton having regularly been a Championship side in recent history, this season is likely to prove even harder to survive than last.

Despite a solid start and some good results, it looks like they’re very likely to be in a relegation battle once again, sitting in 21st place, just two points above the drop.

Goalkeepers

Jamie Cumming has been a busy goalkeeper. He’s made 48 saves but also conceded 23 goals. Only one of those has gone down as being an individual error and his goals prevented is a respectable –0.68.

Experienced former Hull City keeper Matt Ingram is second choice, whilst the even more experienced Simon Eastwood is third in the ranks.

Defenders

Gary Rowett likes to operate with a back four but has yet to find a solution to either of the full-back berths. On the right-hand side, playing time has been split between Sam Long and Brodie Spencer. Spencer has a bunch of experience at just 21 years of age with 19 Northern Ireland caps and averages 2.9 tackles per game.

Long has been with the club his entire career and has been filling in in recent games due to an injury to Spencer. He got an assist against Norwich on Tuesday night.

On the left side, playing time has been split between Jack Currie and former Blue Greg Leigh. Leigh made a habit of scoring last season, finding the net six times but has only found the net once this term. He’s continued to play for Jamaica and largely gets rotated out of the side following an international break, which has provided chances for Currie.

The 23-year-old was signed from AFC Wimbledon in 2024 but immediately sent out on loan to Leyton Orient, so this is his first taste of Championship football. He created nine big chances in League One for Orient last season, resulting in two assists.

Somewhere that has been stable is central defence with Michael Helik and Ciaron Brown forming a balanced partnership. Helik is another former Huddersfield player, who joined in January 2025, and is a solid Championship defender. You know what you’re going to get with him, he’ll battle, he’ll head balls away and he’ll put his body on the line, all shown by the fact that he’s currently averaging 8.6 clearances per game.

Brown has been with Oxford since 2022 and provides left-footed balance. He’s another Northern Ireland international and is another that enjoys his defensive duties, something that is essential in a relegation battle.

Also in the squad are Dutch right-back Hidde ter Avest and Ben Davies, who is probably best known for his bizarre transfer to Liverpool back in 2021.

Midfielders

In holding midfield is more consistency with Brian De Keersmaecker and Cameron Brannagan. Belgian De Keersmaecker will sit deep and screen with Brannagan already proving his threat this season with four goals, all from outside the box, two coming from direct free-kicks, meaning that Town’s defensive efforts will have to be focused on closing him down effectively.

Thirty-two-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday man Will Vaulks provides depth in there but, with Matt Phillips a long-term injury absentee, there’s not too much more depth.

Bulgarian Filip Krastev, who is on loan from Lommel SK, can fill in if needed but has been preferred as a left-wing option in recent games.

Ahead of them Rowett has struggled to find a solution in the number 10 role. Naturals Luke Harris and Louie Sibley have been limited in terms of starts, but Harris did score his first goal in his first start of the season against Middlesbrough in a man of the match performance.

Until then, Rowett had been choosing to pack the midfield or utilise Nik Prelec in that space with the Cagliari loanee operating as more of a second striker.

Attackers

The wings are another area where minutes have been shared. On the left, Siriki Dembele and Tyler Goodrham have dovetailed. Surprisingly, Dembele has only started four with his impact largely being saved for the bench, but the former Peterborough and Birmingham man is certainly one that I’d pick as having the start quality to unlock a defence.

Goodrham is Oxford through and through and one of his main assets is his pressing, which could be why he’s been preferred to start games over Dembele.

On the other side time has been split between former Norwich man Przemyslaw Placheta and former Everton youngster Stanley Mills with eight and seven starts each so far. Placheta is the most in-form with a goal and an assist in his last four games.

Ole Romeny is an interesting one. He signed from FC Utrecht in January 2025 for a hefty fee of close to €2 million but has struggled to get up to speed with the Championship. He has made just two appearances this season, both off the bench and can play up front or on the right-wing.

That just leaves the central striker and, despite having four options for that one role, it’s Tottenham loanee Will Lankshear that’s made it his own so far with five goals in 14 games.

Although he’s finding the net as well as you’d expect for someone in a team towards the bottom end of the table, he can drift out of games when they are not going Oxford’s way.

Waiting in the wings are Mark Harris, Tom Bradshaw (formerly of Millwall) and Gatlin O’Donkor, who faced Town last season when he was out on loan at Bristol Rovers.

The Teams

Winning whilst not playing well is the hallmark of a good team and that is exactly what Town did on Tuesday night with the subs coming off the bench to make an impact.

Given the condensed schedule, I think we’ll see yet more changes for this one. Jack Taylor is almost certain to come back in along with the difference-maker on Tuesday, Jaden Philogene.

I’d love to see Chuba Akpom given a start as the number nine, which in this side is his most effective position. He is also our best option in there at receiving the ball with his back to goal, something that could prove critical for breaking down Oxford’s low block.

Oxford perhaps surprisingly rotated their squad quite heavily on Tuesday night against relegation rivals Norwich City, so some of their bigger names are likely to come in for this one. Like Town, their subs made an impact off the bench and will have made a case for starts.

Prediction

It’s another low block side which could mean another game where Town huff and puff without being able to find a way through.

However, with Kieran McKenna’s learnings from Wrexham plus the lower quality on paper of this Oxford side, I'm going for another 2-0 win on the road.

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