Jamie Brooks shoots against Hull in March 2002

Football resumes on Friday following the latest international break and, with just seven games of the season remaining, it’s a crucial time for those clubs facing the prospect of League One next season.

With Sheffield Wednesday already doomed, It’s likely that the remaining two relegation spots will be filled by two from United, Leicester City, Portsmouth, West Brom and Blackburn Rovers, with Charlton Athletic having a outside possibility of being sucked back into the mix.

It’s also that time of the season when results take an unpredictable turn, as the pressure starts to show for clubs at both ends of the table. So, while Oxford face fifth-placed Hull City on Good Friday, there is reason for U’s fans to attend the game with an optimistic frame of mind, bearing in mind that the Tigers have won only three times in Oxford in 23 attempts.

One of those three occasions was the first time that the sides met, also on a Good Friday in Oxford, in April 1966 in a Third Division game that Hull won 2-0. In fact, United failed to win any of their first five home fixtures against the Tigers, not registering a win in Oxford until another Good Friday meeting, in March 1973, when the U’s won 5-2 thanks to goals from Peter Hatch, John Fleming, Hugh Curran, and a Derek Clarke double.

In fact, United haven’t lost a home game to Hull since November 1975, with results since then including a 3-0 win in December 1979, thanks to a Paul Berry brace and a Peter Foley goal, and a 4-0 win on the opening day of the 1994/95 season, when John Byrne scored a hat-trick to add to Paul Moody’s header [Watch HERE].

The following season, United’s charge to promotion was helped by David Rush, who scored twice in a 2-0 win over Hull in February 1996 [Watch HERE], while the clubs’ first meeting at the Kassam Stadium, in March 2002, was won by a solitary Jamie Brooks strike [Watch HERE].

Steve Basham hit a brace in the opening home game of the 2003/04 campaign as Oxford beat Hull 2-1 [Watch HERE], while the last time the sides met in Oxford was last season’s 1-0 win for United thanks to Hidde ter Avest’s first goal for the club [Watch HERE].

You can see all Oxford’s results against Hull City HERE.

On this Date

Oxford United have played 15 times on 3rd April, winning just four games and drawing five.

The first win was a 3-0 away hammering of Southport in the Fourth Division in the promotion season of 1964/65 thanks to Colin Booth’s hat-trick. United’s next 3rd April game was three years later, when they beat Barrow 3-1 at the Manor, with goals from Colin Clarke, David Sloan, and John Shuker.

In 1976, York City were the visitors to Oxford, with the U’s winning 1-0 courtesy of a Derek Clarke goal. The fourth and final win on this date was at Brentford in 1982, when goals from Peter Foley and Trevor Hebberd set up a 2-1 victory at Griffin Park.

The last time Oxford played in their home city on this date was in 1999, when they drew 0-0 with Bolton Wanderers in the first game after Firoz Kassam took over the club. Pål Lundin keeping a clean sheet on his debut [Watch HERE].

United’s most recent game on 3rd April was the 2015/16 Football League Trophy final at Wembley when, despite Callum O’Dowda giving Oxford the lead, and Danny Hylton scoring in the second half, they lost 3-2 to Barnsley [Watch HERE].

The Match

Oxford come into this game on the back of a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Southampton on their first visit to St Mary’s Stadium. The damage was all done in the opening 15 minutes during which, ironically, Oxford probably played their best football. It’s entirely hypothetical to ponder what might have happened had Will Lankshear not missed when through on goal midway in the second half, so I won’t bother.

The game also comes amid some controversy as a result of Blackburn manager Michael O’Neill’s dual role as Northern Ireland manager and the perception that there could be a potential conflict of interest as he takes charge of a number of players that play for his side’s rivals in the relegation scrap, including four Oxford players. This was heightened by his decision to send home early a number of players that will be playing against Blackburn’s rivals, including Hull’s Paddy McNair, who coincidentally is expected to be fine to play against the U’s.

Let’s be clear: O’Neill almost certainly will not have consciously made decisions likely to have favoured Blackburn at the expense of Oxford (or Portsmouth, given John Mousinho has also questioned the potential for a conflict of interest) but the fact remains that the perception that this is possible is arguably as damaging as its actual likelihood. Obviously it’s too late to do anything about this now, but the EFL needs to have a clear rule that prohibits managers from having this sort of dual role in future, for the protection of the image of the game as much as for any possible malfeasance.

In Oxford’s case, Jamie McDonnell didn’t feature for Northern Ireland, while Jamie Donley scored their goal in their 1-1 draw with Wales on Tuesday, a game in which Ciaron Brown played his only minutes for his country in this break. Donley and Brodie Spencer both played 79 minutes in Northern Ireland’s 2-0 defeat to Italy, with Donley and Brown playing 64 minutes against Wales, and Spencer coming on with 26 minutes to go. Meanwhile, Mark Harris came on for Wales in the 74th minute of their draw with Bosnia & Herzogovina and scored a penalty in their ultimately fruitless attempt to qualify for the World Cup qualifying play-off final, in which the Bosnians beat the Italians. Elsewhere, Ole Romeny scored for Indonesia in their 4-0 friendly win over St Kitts & Nevis before being substituted in the 65th minute and also played the full 90 in their 1-0 defeat by Bulgaria.

Thankfully, none of those involved in international duty over the past couple of weeks picked up any knocks, so the only (known) players unavailable for the Hull visit are Tyler Goodrham and Brian De Keersmaecker, who are both out for the remainder of the season.

For the Tigers, in addition to McNair, they also have Semi Ajayi fit to play after he wasn’t selected for Nigeria for their match against Jordan. He did feature for the Super Eagles in their 2-1 defeat to Iran before returning to Humberside.

Against Southampton, United changed from the back four that had seen them take 10 points from the previous four games to a five-at-the-back system. To be clear, I’m not claiming cause and effect here, but I am questioning why the change from an effective system and, more to the point, why this wasn’t changed earlier when it was proven not to be working as the Saints rushed into a two-goal lead.

I would expect the U’s to revert to a back four, probably featuring Sam Long, Michał Helik, Brown, and Jack Currie. Spencer could be recalled, but having featured for Northern Ireland I think it’s more likely that Long gets the nod. Brown of course also played for the Irish team, but with Ben Davies not involved for several weeks, I can’t see him being introduced at Brown’s expense.

Changing to four at the back allows the midfield to be strengthened, with Donley coming back into the starting line-up the #10 role with Yunus Konak and Cameron Brannagan sitting deeper. This also allows Stan Mills to play wider on the right, with Myles Peart-Harris probably on the left and Lankshear up front.

You could argue that this is not a particularly imaginative line up, but it has proven to be United’s most effective recently and, at this stage of the season, the time for experimentation and rotation is over. Some may argue that against a Hull side that has won ten away games this season, most recently against Wrexham on 10th March, a more cautious approach might be warranted. To them I would say, bollocks.

Oxford need to be hunting for three points, not trying to limit the opposition to one, and while the Tigers might be in the play-off places, they are certainly not invulnerable. They were beaten 3-0 at West Brom on 14th March, and Oxford have already beaten two of the other play-off contenders Ipswich and Southampton at home (as well as drawing with Coventry, Middlesbrough, and Millwall). This is most definitely a game that United should be looking to win, rather than hoping to avoid defeat. Go for it, is what I say.

UTFO