United visit the Memorial Ground, Bristol, on Saturday, hoping to avoid their fourth successive away defeat. Should the game beat the weather and go ahead, Ian Atkins is likely to make only minor changes to the side that drew with Bury last Saturday. Contrary to reports elsewhere, Jon Ashton has only received four yellow cards this season and so is eligible to play, but Matt Bound had an excellent game in the Oxon Senior Cup quarter final against Thame on Monday and must be in contention to replace Paul McCarthy, who looked very out of sorts on Saturday. Up front both Steve Basham and Andy Scott will be hoping to oust Lee Steele from the starting line-up.

Bristol Rovers aren’t doing too well themselves recently, not having won for five games (when they beat Carlisle 1-0), and they currently find themselves just five points above the relegation zone. They do feature former Oxford players in Dave Savage, Robert Quinn and Christian Edwards, so United should win handsomely, but of course that’s unlikely (especially as Quinn is generally confined to the bench these days). Rage Online is approaching this game in a reasonably optimistic frame, and we reckon that United will come home with all three points, courtesy of a 1-0 victory.

There will certainly be a change to the bench on Saturday, as Manny Omoyinmi, who came on for Steele last weekend, has gone on loan to Gravesend & Northfleet, where he will become part of the Conference’s shortest forward line, alongside Ben Abbey. Meanwhile, United’s golden goal hero on Monday, Adam Garner, and his colleague Matt Brandish, have joined Aylesbury United on Work Experience terms, meaning that they will train with Oxford and be able to play for the Us, but they will also be eligible to play for the Ducks.