We look ahead to tonight's big game
We look ahead to tonight's Johnstone's Paint Trophy second round tie against Portsmouth.
Team News
United will hand a debut to young midfielder Josh Ruffels as they take on Pompey. The Kidlington-born central midfielder has made a couple of substitute appearances so far since signing from Coventry in the summer but stands by for his full debut as United enter the competition following a bye in the first round. Manager Chris Wilder has already stated that Ruffels will start and is also likely to include James Constable up front. The striker has come back from injury ahead of schedule and is likely to be given 90 minutes tonight.
Callum O'Dowda may get another chance to impress after a league debut on Saturday but Andy Whing is still suspended after his red card against Chesterfield. The midfielder will return to the squad on Saturday when United take on Northampton Town at home. Captain Jake Wright should also be available for that game after returning to training this week. However, midfielder Jon Meades has suffered a setback on his road to recovery and faces a further operation on his ankle which will keep him out for longer than expected.
See Andy Melville and Michael Raynes looking forward to the game in Yellow Player right now.
The Opposition
Portsmouth boss Guy Whittingham has a unique place in United's history. As a player he made just one appearance for the U's, scoring against Swindon, before being recalled to Fratton Park.
“We won at the weekend and we want to make it back-to-back victories, while their home form hasn’t been the best and they’ll want to put that right," he said before tonight's game. “It’s a bit of a local derby and we’ll be looking to put right what happened on the opening day of the season.I want us to progress as far as we can in the competition – and I know the players feel the same.
“There’s a trip to Wembley at the end and that’s not something you get to experience very often.”
Tickets
Prices are greatly reduced for this game. Adult tickets are just £10 if you book before 2pm today, over 65s are just £5 in advance and under 16s £4. Student prices have also been cut to just £5 in advance. Prices increase by £2 per ticket after 2pm
Tickets are available via www.oufctickets.co.uk where you can pick your exact seat and see the approximate view from that seat. The phone lines are open on 01865 337533 or call in person at the Ticket Office.
Getting Here
Please note that there are no football special buses available this evening. You can get here on the Oxford Bus Company Number 5 route, which runs from Oxford Station through the City Centre and to Knights Road, which is a five minute walk to the stadium.
Alternatively the T3 service runs from St Aldates via Littlemore and Sandford every half-hour, leaving the city centre at 10 minutes to the hour and 20 minutes past. Please note that the return journey on this service is not available after the game.
Be well read...
The Matchday Magazine is a special issue tonight. With a programme on one side it folds out into a superb team poster and fixture poster on the other.
It's a bargain at £2, especially when you can get a free Oxford Mail with it (while stocks last).
You can buy your matchday magazine from sellers around the ground and the club shop or you can go to our website at www.matchdayfix.co.uk and download it from two hours prior to kick-off, or subscribe for the remainder of the season.
Coverage
If you can't be with us then try out Yellow Player, where we have commentary of the whole game live, plus video interviews with all the key men and match highlights for you to see.
Yellow Player is the ONLY place on the internet that you can hear the game online; join us for all the action.
This Site
www.oufc.co.uk is the perfect place to follow all the action. The official website will have:
- Full team news
- Read a full match report the very second the final whistle blows
- See a full gallery of all the key moments
- See highlights and the manager and key players give their reactions in Yellow Player
- SMS subscribers get all the action straight to their mobiles.
- Or follow @OUFClive on Twitter for all the action wherever you are.
Bring On The Wall
We will be testing the capabilities of our brand new web feature The Wall throughout tonight's game. Log on and join the experiment.
Fifty/50
Make sure you buy a Fifty-50 lottery ticket to be in with a chance of winning a big cash prize. Tickets are on sale all around the ground including from the concourse programme sellers, with the draw at half-time.
The result will appear right here as soon as it is made.