Oxford travel south to Exeter City[@opponent]Exeter City[/@opponent] tonight for the first leg of the play-off semi finals. Neither side has ever appeared in the play offs, so it's virgin territory for both clubs, although a number of United players have experienced this end-of-season worry-fest before, notably goalkeeper Billy Turley, skipper Phil Gilchrist, and midfielder Chris Hargreaves. The nerves are jangling for the supporters, over 1,000 of whom are travelling to South Devon for the match, which is also being shown live on Sky One.[@connection]Exeter City[/@connection] When the teams met at St James Park on New Year's Day, the Grecians beat an injury-ravaged United side 2-1, which was the day that the Us lost the leadership of the Conference.[@news]623[/@news]

Jim Smith will make a number of changes to the side that lost at York last Saturday, at least one of which is enforced, as Luke Foster suffered a double fracture of his leg against the Minstermen. Billy Turley should have recovered from the thumb injury that sidelined him, but even if he hasn't then Chris Tardif is an able deputy. With Foster's absence, and Michael Corcoran's ineligibility, Phil Gilchrist is almost certain to play, probably alongside Barry Quinn and Matty Day, although Georges Santos played in the reserves' midweek 3-2 defeat at Luton with no problems, and could be on the bench. With Day required in the centre of defence, the wingback positions are likely to be filled by Gavin Johnson and Eddie Anaclet, but there is plenty of competition for the central midfield places, with three from Carl Pettefer, Hargreaves, Eddie Hutchinson, Danny Rose, Martin Foster, or Andy Burgess to be picked. It's likely to be Hargreaves, Rose, and Foster, but who knows? Up front Chris Zebroski will probably start, most likely alongside Rob Duffy, with Yemi Odubade and maybe Marvin Robinson on the bench. But again, who knows?

Exeter City have never won when they've been live on the box before, but that means nothing and no United fan should get complacent with this knowledge. Exeter have long been one of Oxford's bogey teams, this season's 1-0 home win over the Grecians being the first time Oxford have beaten them since 1981, under Ian Greaves, when the Yellows triumphed 2-1 at St James Park. Exeter go into the play offs on a decent run of form, unbeaten in their last five games, and unbeaten at home since Gravesend won 3-1 on 20 January. Pre-match nerves prohibit us from making a prediction, other than it will probably be a cagey affair, with no more than a couple of goals. Or not.

In the evening's other play-off semi final, Morecambe travel to York City.