PREVIEW Cheltenham Town v Oxford United

A full guide to Saturday's Sky Bet League 1 game

24 November 2023

Oxford United head for Cheltenham Town on Saturday in Sky Bet League 1 (3pm)

It's Des Buckingham's first game since taking over as Head Coach and he'll be looking for his side to build on a run of just one defeat in their last ten games.

TEAM NEWS
United welcome on-loan winger Kyle Edwards back into the squad after a hamstring problem with Marcus Browne hoping to be in contention a week later when the U's welcome Grimsby Town in the Emirates FA Cup.

Young defender James Golding has been recalled from his loan at Maidenhead and as winger Tyler Goodrham said, every player is hoping to get the nod in the new Manager's first starting eleven:

"It has been a really good week" Goodrham said. "I think every player starts with a clean slate when a new Manager comes in. He hasn't changed too much this week, just one or two little things here and there, but he has made his mark and training has been good. We have competition for places and in training this week you can see everyone pushing because we all want to be involved on Saturday.

"But that's been the same all season really. The competition for places is what you need. It won't be easy and you can forget the league table on Saturday. Last season that was us where Cheltenham are right now and every time we played a side near the top we competed and fought for everything.

"But we know the fans will be there like they were at Orient in the last league game and we want to end the day celebrating with them again."

You can see the full interviews below plus the pre-match throughts of Des Buckingham in iFollow right now.

THE OPPOSITION
Robins boss Darrell Clarke has started to turn things around since his arrival with former United captain Adam Murray as his right-hand man.

"They're (Oxford) flying in the league, right up there in second place trying to chase Portsmouth down" he said."We are under no illusions that it's going to be tough, but Wigan was tough, we've had some tough games and we've matched these teams.

"But we want to do more than match them, we want to try and beat them."

YELLOWS YELLOWS...
United will be wearing their yellow kit. Order yours HERE.

TICKETS
This game is SOLD OUT for away fans

None will be available on the day and fans without tickets should not travel.

Places on the London Road Club coaches are still available.

London Road Club Travel

Kassam Stadium pick up: 12:30pm

Prices:

Adult LRC member	£18
Adukt	£21
U18 LRC Member	£16
U18	£19

Visit oufctickets.co.uk or call 01865 337533 to book

Under 14s must be accompanied by an adult and no alcohol is permitted on the coaches

FAN ZONE
Cheltenham have launched an away supporters fan zone this season. There are currently no bars or alcohol served in the ground for away supporters, but this zone is right next to the away entrance in the car park, with toilets, a bar and music.

Parking
There are two parking spaces available for away supporters with disabilities. These can be booked through Cheltenham directly by calling 01242 573558. Please note that blue badge details must be taken to book these spaces.

BOLTON AT HOME
Missed out on Cheltenham? Then make sure you are with us for Des Buckingham's first home game in charge when we welcome Bolton Wanderers to the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday 28th November (7.45pm)

Tickets are available online HERE or call 01865 337533

COVERAGE
International passes are available to watch the game in iFollow overseas and audio passes are available in the UK. CLICK HERE to buy your match pass.

Follow the game on @OUFCOfficial on X and we will have a full report and gallery right here on the final whistle.

Match Reports

REPORT Cheltenham Town 2 Oxford United 0

Ten man U's beaten at the Robins. Full time report

25 November 2023

Oxford United endured a completely-frustrating afternoon at the Completely-Suzuki stadium today as goals from Rob Street and Will Goodwin gave the home side all three points in a game that ended with both sides reduced to ten men.

Street's first-half strike and Goodwin's late second came either side of red cards for Street and Ruben Rodrigues in a full-blooded encounter that meant a first-game defeat for new boss Des Buckingham.

With a full quota for the first 44 minutes, Cheltenham came at Oxford from the off and it took an outstanding save from James Beadle in the first minute to keep them at bay, the on-loan Brighton keeper clawing away a clever chip from Aidan Keena that was heading for the top left corner.

That set the tone for much of the first half as a physical Cheltenham front line put United under pressure and got the ball into the box early whenever there was an opportunity. United, missing Sam Long and Greg Leigh through injury and Elliott Moore through suspension, defended stoutly and then seemed to be growing into the game.

Cameron Brannagan, skipper in Moore’s absence went close with a free kick, Jordan Thorniley had a drive blocked and Rodrigues was only denied after 33 minutes by a brave block by the covering Ben Williams.

However, two minutes later a set piece paved the way for the opener. An inswinging corner was punched clear by the brave Beadle among a sea of straining heads only for the ball to fly to Street who sent in a quality volley through a packed area to spark celebrations among the home fans.

There was still time for a twist in time added on when Street was far from wise with an elbow into the rugged jaw of Stephan Negru. An obvious red card and ref Scott Simpson duly obliged to leave United facing ten men for half the game.

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Josh Murphy injected pace for the second half as the U's went to a wing-back system and penned the ten men back in front of the magnificent away fans - one third of the crowd making two thirds of the noise at that stage - and for 20 minutes it became a question of whether the ten men could hold out as they dropped deeper and deeper.

Rodrigues, the game's central character, should have levelled on 50 but leant back and fired well over the gaping net after a Murphy run had left him with an open goal, Ciaron Brown's header was kicked off the line as the Robins rocked and the Northern Ireland international defender was close with a low drive on the hour as the U's dominated. Bodin flashed a rising effort a foot wide, and then everything changed again after 68 minutes when Rodrigues was dismissed for blocking his man near the half-way line.

Both of the Portuguese playmaker's yellow cards were avoidable but frustration was the key, and now it was ten v ten for 25 action-packed minutes.

With Kyle Edwards on the pitch by then, United had pace down both flanks and looked to stretch the game whenever they could, but the home side were disciplined and on 76 had little reason to make the game go end to end as an initial low shot was blocked but ran kindly to Goodwin, who rolled home a second goal that gave United just too much to do.

United slip a place in the table to third but have the ideal chance to bounce back when they welcome the new leaders, Bolton Wanderers, to the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday night.

Att: 5,049
Away: 1,517

Report by Chris Williams, pictures Steve Daniels, Steve Edmunds, Darrell Fisher and Rex Shutterstock