Reserves lose

United's reserves went down 3-1 at home to Cheltenham this afternoon, despite Norman Sylla scoring for them yet again to give Oxford the lead. Three late goals for the Robins, two from erstwhile popstar Michael Jackson, sealed the win. There were some plus points for United, including the performance of Chris Hackett at right wingback, as well as Sylla's continuing goalscoring exploits as the young Frenchman seeks a contract.

Meanwhile United have announced their intention to appeal against Wayne Hatswell's dismissal at Lincoln. Although initially it looked that Martin Thomas's red card was somewhat more harsh, the video evidence wasn't conclusive enough for the Us to mount a challenge against that sending off, whereas the video apparently clearly showed that Hatswell didn't retaliate against Lee Thorpe's thuggery on him.

Mark Wright was today having a meeting with Firoz Kassam to ask for permission to sign a “tough-tackling” midfielder, who is apparently the missing link in the puzzle to make United unbeatable. It was also revealed that the striker United were trying to sign on loan is Giovanni Savarese, currently playing at Millwall on loan from Swansea. Savarese was watched for a while by Denis Smith, who eventually decided he wasn't good enough (and this was in the days when we had Steve Anthrobus!).