Town head to the Kassam Stadium on Saturday to take on local rivals Oxford United in the Sky Bet League One (3pm Kick-Off).
Swindon are in confident mood ahead of tomorrow’s Derby Day having taken a point in a 2-2 draw away at Peterborough United last time out, a result that stretched their unbeaten run to three straight games.
Oxford, meanwhile, emerged 1-0 winners at home to Rochdale thanks to a last gasp Liam Sercombe goal.
The two sides haven’t met in the league since March 2012, although they did do battle in the JPT last season where a double from Kemar Roofe sent Oxford through to the Third Round of the competition.
You can follow all of Saturday’s Derby Day action over on Twitter (@Official_STFC), whilst a full report and post-match reaction will be available right here at swindontownfc.co.uk.
STAT ATTACK:
Tomorrow’s game will be the 57th meeting between the two sides, with Town able to claim the local bragging rights with 23 wins to their name so far.
TICKET NEWS:
Tomorrow’s match is SOLD OUT.
FULL RECORD V OXFORD UNITED:
P57 W23 D20 L14 F81 A62
FORM GUIDE (LAST SIX GAMES IN ALL COMPETITIONS):
TOWN – WDLDWD
OXFORD – LWLLWW
TOP SCORER:
TOWN – Michael Doughty (2)
OXFORD – Wes Thomas (3)
TEAM NEWS:
TOWN – Midfielder Yaser Kasim is being assessed ahead of tomorrow’s game after returning from international duty with Iraq this week, while both Raphael Rossi-Branco and Jon Obika could be in contention after stepping up their recovery from injury during Monday night’s 3-0 friendly win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town FC.
However, young attackers Jordan Young and Jordan Stewart will both miss out through injury.
OXFORD – The U’s have no fresh injury worries and will be able to welcome Ryan Ledson, Benji Buchel and Tyler Roberts back from international duty.
Youngsters James Roberts, Josh Ashby and Jonny Giles joined Oxford City earlier this week, while Curtis Nelson, Rob Hall and Christian Ribeiro are still on the comeback trail from injury.
Defender Aaron Martin could well return to the matchday squad tomorrow after missing Oxford’s last couple of games due to injury.
A WORD FROM BOTH CAMPS:
Luke Williams, Town Head Coach: “I’m looking forward to the atmosphere and the whole occasion.
“All the staff and all the players are looking forward to it, but at the same time we know it is another game and if we concentrate too much on the stuff that goes on around it then we can take our attention off the really vital bit, which is the performance and executing the game plan.
“It is great and we’re looking forward to it but ultimately it is a game of football that we prepare for in a very similar way to all the other games.”
Chris Allen, Oxford United First Team Coach: “It’s great. The buzz about the place, the sell-out crowd, the tension in the game.
“They are all going to be huge and we just have to stay disciplined, make sure we keep 11 players on the pitch and play our usual game.
“We have a young side and it will be a great learning curve for them to see what a big derby is all about.”
OFFICIALS:
Referee - Stuart Attwell
Assistants – Dan Cook and Andrew Fox
Fourth Official – Steven Rushton
PLAYED FOR BOTH TEAMS:
Tommy Mooney, Adrian Viveash, Joey Beauchamp, Mehdi Kerrouche, Lee Cox, Jim Barron, Jimmy Glass, Brian Howard, Jamie Slabber, Eric Sabin, David Moss, Paul Evans, Colin Todd, Sam Ricketts, Jimmy Bain, Mark Jones, Gary Waddock.
