PREVIEW Oxford United v Burton Albion

U's welcome the Brewers. A full guide to Saturday's game at the Kassam Stadium

15 December 2023

Oxford United welcome Burton Albion to the Kassam Stadium on Saturday in Sky Bet League 1 (3pm)

It's our Christmas Extravaganza with lots of festive activities around the ground before kick off as The U's take on The Brewers.

TEAM NEWS
United will wait on the fitness of forwards Ruben Rodrigues and Billy Bodin before naming the squad. Rodrigues took a kick to the ankle in the game at Peterborough and missed the game at Reading in midweek with Bodin also nursing an injury from the same game and restricted to a cameo from the bench on Tuesday. Both will be hoping for a return on Saturday.

Greg Leigh, Kyle Edwards, Marcus Browne, Sam Long and Stephan Negru are all missing until the new year but Joe Bennett comes into contention for a first start after getting minutes during the last two games.

See the full interviews with Des, Josh Murphy and Joe Bennett in iFollow right now.

THE OPPOSITION
Burton caretaker boss Gary Mills has mixed memories of the Kassam Stadium having sustained a serious injury while playing there for Rushden and Diamonds. Mills dislocated his ankle on that occasion but will be hoping for much better luck as he takes charge of the Brewers for the first time after the departure of Dino Maamria last weekend.

He said: “The players are a great bunch and are really resilient. I have been in football a long time and I don’t say it lightly when I say they are a fantastic group of people.We had a meeting and said that it was a clean slate for everyone. They were all ready to work hard from the off and knew we had a lot to do.

“Today it has been about possession and how we are going to try and hurt Oxford, and tomorrow will be about out of possession and how we are going to combat them. The lads have been fully focussed and full of energy.

“It’s our job to prepare them the best we can. Under us as a management team everyone will have an input and there will be subtle changes. Everyone sees the game differently that’s the beauty of football and we will try and be more attacking, front footed and pass the ball through the thirds. We want the players to enjoy themselves and play with lots of energy and endeavour".

CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA
The festive fun outside the South Stand will run from 12pm to 2:45pm giving supporters plenty of time to eat, shop and get into the Christmas spirit before the football.

The Exhibition Bar will become a Christmas Market with John Lewis showcasing some of their Top 100 Christmas Gifts for supporters to browse, accompanied by Charlotte Tilbury, and Helen & Douglas House.

Fans can expect all these fantastic activities:

Live Reindeer
Festive Food
Victorian Carol Singers
City of Oxford Silver Band
John Lewis Top Gifts
Helen and Douglas House Christmas Cards
Oxford United in the Community Gift Wrapping Station
Half-time Christmas Karaoke

Teddy Appeal
We are asking supporters to bring a teddy to this game to donate to Helen and Douglas House, who help terminally ill children in need this Christmas. Supported by Grundon, fans will find Christmas-wrapped donation stations around the ground to leave their teddy.

ONLY DONATIONS OF NEW, CLEAN, AND BAGGED TEDDIES CAN BE ACCEPTED

Half-time Christmas Karaoke
As part of the half-time entertainment for this game, we will be spreading the festive cheer by inviting supporters to take part in some Christmas karaoke. To be considered, please fill out the form below.

Take Part: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OUFCKaraoke

Please only sign-up for yourself and NOT to volunteer others.

Women Take On Billericay

Under 18s welcome Exeter

The Programme

Half Season Tickets

TICKETS
Tickets for the game are available now. Click HERE to buy or call the Ticket Office team on 01865 337533.

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 open so pedestrians can move from one end of the ground to the other behind that stand.

MATCH GUIDES

Family Guide

Visiting Fans Guide

Disabled Supporters Guide

CLUB SHOP

The Club Shop has stock of all three new kits plus this year's Christmas Jumpers. Make sure you call in before the game, or take a look online HERE

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.

A full guide to getting to games is available HERE.

POLYTHENE UK 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 overseas and listen to in the UK in iFollow.

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

Match Reports

REPORT Oxford United 3 Burton Albion 0

Rodrigues brace helps the U's beat the Brewers. Full time report

16 December 2023

Two goals from Ruben Rodrigues and a wonder strike from Marcus McGuane earned Oxford United all three points at the Kassam Stadium this afternoon as they beat Burton Albion 3-0.

Rodrigues came back into the side after injury to keep United hot on the heels of the top two as we go into the Christmas period, with McGuane's excellent effort capping a fine afternoon's work. They might even have won more comfortably having created plenty of chances but are definitely starting to hit form again as they move up to third in the League 1 table.

The U's might have been in front inside six minutes but the flying Josh Murphy could only head a terrific cross from the returning Rodrigues, outstanding on the day, over the bar at the back post. That was the first of several fine moves down the flanks, where Stan Mills and Murphy continually made inroads, and a goal was on the cards long before Rodrigues provided it on 25 minutes.

burton rodrigues goal (2).jpg

The start of it was a peach of a pass from Cameron Brannagan to set Mills away on the right. He fed Rodrigues inside the box and he shimmied his way past a weak challenge and curled the ball beyond keeper Max Crocombe to put the U’s in front with a very well-crafted fifth goal of the season.

The Brewers rarely threatened James Beadle’s goal in a one-sided first half where they never looked like becoming the first visiting team to score at the east end of the ground this season.

The only danger was that United couldn’t quite provide the comfort of a second goal, leaving it late but always in control of the game. Mills put a chance wide, defenders threw themselves in front of dangerous crosses, and as a result the visitors were still in the game at half time.

They would have been out of it on 57 had a typical Brannagan blast found the top corner rather than the angle of post and bar, and on 59 there were four chances in as many seconds: two from Elliott Moore, with the first hitting his own man and the second cleared off the line by Cole Stockton, a third shot saved by Crocombe, a fourth kicked away by Joe Powell.

Mark Harris nodded a cross wide a minute later and saw a goalbound effort blocked by Sam Hughes as Burton got battered, although Ciaron Bown's Christmas box was needed between those chances to block a Rekeem Harper shot as the visitors briefly threatened - they didn't manage a shot on target all afternoon.

With a clean sheet coming and a first league win for Des Buckingham, all we needed was a second goal and after 83 minutes Rodrigues left another defender floundering and blasted the ball into the roof of the net, beyond the helpless Crocombe, and United were safe.

The icing on the cake came on 88, when McGuane picked up the ball on the left of the box and sent a wonderful strike into the same top corner to join the Goal of the Season contenders.

burton mcguane goal.jpg