Oxford play Altrincham tomorrow for the Us' penultimate away game of the season, excluding play-offs. The game could be considered a bit of a dead rubber, as United's play-off place is secured and they are highly unlikely to win the title, while Altrincham have achieved their goal of mid-table anonymity. However, for Oxford there is still the prospect of jostling for places and also entering the mini end-of-season competition in decent form and with confidence high.

The confidence-building process started on Saturday, with a deserved but late 1-0 win over Salisbury City. The team that ended that match was possibly United's strongest available, but there are two more factors to consider. Matt Green, who was suspended for that match, scored a well-taken hat-trick against Banbury United in the Oxfordshire Senior Cup final on Wednesday and will have earned himself a place on the bench at the very least. Simon Clist has now recovered from the elbow in the head that he received at Hayes & Yeading United and will also be in contention. It is likely that Anthony Tonkin will start at left-back, with Clist taking over the left midfield role, while one or both of Sam Deering and Alfie Potter will be ready to come off the bench as impact substitutes. With the squad leaving at noon today and using Stoke City's training facilities, they should at least be prepared for tomorrow's match.

Altrincham are nicely ensconced in 10th place, 19 points below the play-off spots, and 14 points above the relegation zone. Damian Batt scored the only goal of the game when the sides met at Grenoble Road on Hallowe'en last year. Last year's game at Moss Lane provided Altrincham's sole victory over the Us. [@opponent]altrincham[/@opponent][@connection]altrincham[/@connection]

Two (possibly three) important dates to note for Oxford fans: the play-off semi-final first leg will take place on Thursday 29 April, with the sides that finish second and third away to those that finish fifth and fourth respectively. The return leg will be played on Bank Holiday Monday 3 May, with a 3.00pm kick-off. The play-off final will be played at Wembley on Sunday 16 May, with a 5.00pm kick-off due to the match being shown live on Sky. Although perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves here.

Last night Barrow beat Kidderminster Harriers 1-0 thanks to a fourth-minute goal from Phil Bolland. This lifts Barrow to 17th place, five points above the drop zone and they still have games in hand on all the other relegation fighters.