PREVIEW Oxford United v Shrewsbury Town

A full guide to tonight's game at the Kassam Stadium

19 October 2021

Oxford United welcome Shrewsbury Town to the Kassam Stadium tonight in Sky Bet League 1 (7.45pm)

TEAM NEWS
With no new injuries after Saturday's game against Plymouth and Joel Cooper recovering well from a chest injury the only doubt ahead of tonight's game is boss Karl Robinson who will wait on the result of a PCR test before deciding if he can be at the game.

If the result does not come through in time then he will stay away and Craig Short and John Mousinho will be in charge of the side.

Jack Stevens stands by for his 50th league appearance for the U's.

See Jack, Craig Short and Elliott Moore all looking forward to the game in iFollow.

THE OPPOSITION
Shrews Assistant Boss Aaron Wilbraham is well aware that the U’s will want a strong reaction after defeat at home to Plymouth on Saturday

“Oxford lost a few players from last year but still play good football, they are a possession-based side, I know the manager Karl Robinson well from MK Dons,” he said. “He gets his teams playing good stuff, they had a disappointing game on Saturday so will want to bounce back.

“He was assistant under Paul Ince when I was there and I had a little bit of a part in him getting the job really, because he was younger than me and the chairman spoke to me and Dean Lewington about his capabilities. He was a really good coach, Karl, under Paul Ince, he got the job off the back of that.”

The Shrews are without Josh Vela (knee), left-back Luke Leahy (suspended) and both Aaron Pierre and George Nurse are injury doubts.

TICKETS
Tickets are available from oufctickets.co.uk where you can print at home or download to your phone or you can call 01865 337533

Karl waits on test results

From the Dugout

Match Sponsors

The Programme

PARKING

There are circa 2,000 free parking spaces at the stadium but we ask everyone to arrive early and park legally. Away fans- Please park in the West car park - the one closest to the cinema and bowling complex at the fence end of the ground.

ISOLATION AND SENSORY ROOMS

Although we can't open Olly's Den or the Family Room at the moment we do have two rooms available which fans should be aware of.

We have a bespoke Sensory Room for fans under 23 who maybe need to take a little time out on a matchday with our fully trained helpers. Just ask a steward if you would like to use it or email Supporter Liaison Officer Andy Taylor for more details: ataylor@oufc.co.uk.

We also have an 'Isolation Room' available: if you start feeling unwell or show any covid symptoms after you arrive at the ground please tell the nearest steward who will help you to the isolation area where we can get you tested and take appropriate action

COVERAGE

You can SEE the whole game in iFollow in the UK and overseas, with interviews with all the key men after the game.

You can also follow the whole game on twitter through @OUFCOfficial or on our Instagram page and we will have a full match report and Gallery right here on the final whistle.

Pre Match Videos

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Match Reports

REPORT Oxford United 2 Shrewsbury Town 0

U's tame the Shrews. Full time report

19 October 2021

Oxford United kept up the pressure on the teams in the play-offs with an important win over Shrewsbury Town tonight. Goals from Mark Sykes and Cameron Brannagan gave them a win despite boss Karl Robinson's enforced absence.

Robinson, waiting at home on a PCR test result, will have been delighted to see his side overcome a stubborn Shrews side and get back to winning ways after losing their unbeaten home record to leaders Plymouth on Saturday.

He chose a good first half to miss though as his side struggled to get their usual passing game going against a very disciplined away defence.

Shrewsbury, who had stolen their away kit design from the laboratory of Bertie Bassett, had two early chances with Nathanael Ogbeta and Tom Bloxham both off target from good positions, but they faded as an attacking force after that and in the end didn't manage a shot on target all night.

To be fair, United's first was their goal.

Matty Taylor had their first effort after 17 minutes, a shot on the turn blocked by two sprawling defenders, and Alex Gorrin saw another effort deflect over the bar as United began to hit their stride, but what the game was crying out for after a disjointed first 45 minutes was a goal.

A minute into the second half Sykes provided it with a long-range effort that went through a sea of legs before rolling into the bottom right corner, with Marosi well beaten. There was a suspicion of a touch from Taylor on the way through but the striker pointed immediately to Sykes, seemingly settling any doubt over the scorer.

United were better after the break; Sykes very influential from the left wing, Gavin Whyte dangerous on the right, and the recalled Gorrin doing an excellent job of breaking up any Salopian danger in front of the back four.

Brannagan should have done better when Herbie Kane gave him the ball on the edge of the box, but the U's were as comfortable as it is possible to be when you only have a single goal advantage, and with three minutes to go were home and hosed when Brannagan again fired through a forest of bodies to beat Marosi and settle things for the night.

An important win in adversity. And one positive result that their watching boss will have enjoyed....

Att: 5,763
Away: 221

Fifty/50 winning number 6288 wins £417.50

Report by Chris Williams, pictures Steve Daniels and Steve Edmunds, stats by OPTA