PREVIEW Oxford United v Accrington Stanley

A full guide to Sunday's final game of the season

5 May 2023

Oxford United welcome Accrington Stanley to the Kassam Stadium on Sunday (12pm) in the final game of the Sky Bet League 1 season.

The U's are safe while Accrington are all but relegated unless there are two freak results in the division.

TEAM NEWS
United will resist making changes for the final game despite being safe after winning at Forest Green last weekend

"We may make one or two tweaks but not massive ones" Liam Manning said. "It's a game we want to win and we will treat it just like any other".

James Henry, Sam Baldock and Alex Gorrin have been missing with long-term injuries while forward Ateef Konate has returned to parent club Nottingham Forest.

See Simon Eastwood talking about the game in the Preview Show in iFollow right now along with the full pre-match interview with Liam Manning.

THE OPPOSITION

Accrington are on the brink of relegation, five years after winning League 2.

“The plans have already started for next season, it’s not going to be easy but it generally isn’t here,” Manager John Coleman said. “We have used the biggest budget we have had this season but I haven’t used it at all wisely so I have to take the big rap for it. Some of it was my own doing, some of it wasn’t.

“It's hard but you have got to be up for the challenge. We have enjoyed defying the odds here.

“This is a wonderful club, a unique club and we have done things that probably no one ever dreamt we could do. Does that mean our ambition has gone? Does it mean we have reached the end of the road? Not at all. We have a lovely stadium, great facilities and hopefully we can build a team that people fear playing against and we have got to get back to that.”

THANK YOU
The players and staff want to thank the fans for your support this season and will be returning to the pitch after the final whistle to show their appreciation. Please stay off the pitch to allow this to happen.

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TICKETS
Get behind the U's one last time but book your place ASAP: the East Stand is now sold out and space is becoming limited in other areas. Tickets are available now from

oufctickets.co.uk
By calling 01865 337533
In person from the Kassam Stadium Ticket Office on matchday

PARKING AND ACCESS

There are around 2,000 free parking spaces at the stadium but we ask everyone to arrive early and park legally.

The gate behind the Planet IT North Stand will be NOT in place so pedestrians can move from one end of the ground to the other behind that stand

VISITING FANS

Click here for a full away fan guide: away fan guide 2223.pdf

Please park in the West Car Park - the one closest to the cinema and bowling complex at the fence end of the ground.

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The Programme

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GETTING HERE
The Football Special bus services, including the Didcot/Abingdon service, offer easy and affordable transport to home games and are part of the government's £2 for a ticket scheme. Click HERE for timetables and details. PLEASE NOTE: a midday kick-off means all departure times before the game are THREE HOURS EARLIER than usual

FAMILY
You can download a full guide to bringing your family to the Kassam Stadium here: FamilyDayGuide for download.pdf

FIFTY/50
Our Polythene UK Fifty/50 tickets are available all around the ground and offer a great chance to win cash at half time.

COVERAGE
The game is available to watch in the UK and worldwide in iFollow.

CLICK HERE to see all the action, with commentary from our friends at BBC Oxford

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.

Match Reports

U's End Season With a Defeat

Oxford United 1 Accrington Stanley 2. Full time report

7 May 2023

Oxford United ended the season with a defeat this afternoon as Accrington Stanley hit back to claim a win on their farewell to League 1.

A Billy Bodin goal after eight minutes was cancelled out by a fine strike from Korede Adedoyin and a header from Aaron Pressley after the break to send Stanley away with smiles, even if United had done all the hard work with wins over Cheltenham and Forest Green to make the result all but academic.

In glorious spring sunshine, Accrington needed an improbable cricket score to have any chance of staying up, so the last thing they needed was to effectively go a wicket down in the first over. Sadly for Stanley, it took just eight minutes for their defenced to be breached.

Bodin has been instrumental in United’s survival and joyfully smashed them into the lead after Tyler Goodrham’s subtle flick allowed him to muscle past a trailing defender and drill the ball beyond the dive of keeper Lukas Jensen.

Bodin, Tyler Goodrham, Marcus Browne and Kyle Joseph all squandered chances as United exploited the gaps in a porous visiting defence, not helped by both centre halves having to go off before the half hour mark. Some of the football was very easy on the eye, although as usual Simon Eastwood was on hand to spare blushes with an excellent save from Nathan Butler-Oyedeji just before the break.

There was a familiar story after the break as United carved out chance after chance. Accrington, returning to the fourth tier after five seasons, struggled to keep the rejuvenated U's at bay. The unplayable Browne was denied once again by the overworked Jensen, the Danish keeper repeatedly saving his side's bacon, and it looked like one-way traffic until just after the hour when sub Adedoyin let fly from distance and saw the ball fly past the diving Eastwood for an unlikely equaliser.

United threw men forward, Sam Long and Elliott Moore both close to giving their side the lead again with back post headers, and Josh Murphy sending in a viciously swerving effort that Jensen just about beat away, but Stanley had stuck at it and with five minutes left Pressley was unmarked to head home at the back post to give the visitors the win.

It matters little in the bigger scheme of things. Accrington will take on Wrexham and Swindon while the U's tackle Reading and Derby. Both clubs will reflect on a long, challenging season. United have showed their true colours in the final two months and have given their superb fans - over 10,000 there today - something to look forward to despite this setback.

Thank you for the support all season. Enjoy your summer, we'll be right here when it all kicks off again...

Att: 10,499

Away: 265

Polythene UK Fifty/50 number 82377 wins £1,222

Report by Chris Williams, picture Steve Daniels and Steve Edmunds