Fleetwood Town return to the Kassam Stadium in Oxford on Tuesday evening, hoping to fulfil a fixture which fell foul of the weather before Christmas.
By David MitchellFleetwood Town return to the Kassam Stadium in Oxford on Tuesday evening, hoping to fulfil a fixture which fell foul of the weather before Christmas.
The match should have marked the half-way point of the season but a morning pitch inspection forced the postponement.
Town returned from an even longer trip on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Torquay which will put them in good spirit for the Oxford game, an opportunity to reach 50 points.
'It will certainly be a milestone,' said manager Graham Alexander,'and it's important that we keep chipping away and keeping the points tally moving forward. Although we beat Oxford recently we know how tough it will be to go to their own ground.'
Alexander and his management team will be assessing a number of injured players ahead of the game. Shaun Beeley, Gareth Evans and Nathan Pond all missed Saturday's match with injuries received in the Bradford game while striker Jon Parkin left the Plainmoor pitch with a recurrence of a hamstring problem after scoring the game's only goal. However, Saturday's win was achieved following four changes and there is quality throughout the squad with players keen to make their mark given the opportunity.
Oxford have a mixed record of six wins and four defeats at the Kassam and will assess striker Justin Richards following a collision just after the half hour during Saturday's home defeat to resurgent Bristol Rovers. Alfie Potter stands by. Leading scorer Tom Craddock misses with a groin injury and midfielder Peter Leven is out longer term following knee surgery but defender Andy Whing is fit. In midfield both Josh Parker and Lewis Montrose could be pushing for starts.
The defeat against Rovers means that the U's have gone winless in four games with just one goal scored in that time. Chris Wilder's side have now fallen eight points off the play-off places. The manager is adamant that his team can recover in the final sixteen games to make the play-offs, as he told the 'Oxford Mail':
'The players can't feel down about it. We have to stick with them. It's a game knocked off, that's all it is. There's still a target for us.'
Oxford were members of the Football League from 1962 until 2006. They returned in 2010 via the Conference play-offs and finished ninth last season.
