Oxford United have their first away game of the new season tonight. It should have been on Tuesday, but because of the deal between the Conference and Irish TV channel Setanta, the game has been rearranged after being chosen for live television coverage. This will be the first time that Oxford have featured live on Setanta, but not the last. The match in question is at Cambridge United[@opponent]Cambridge United[/@opponent], who won their opening fixture 2-1 at York City, while United were busy beating Forest Green Rovers 1-0.[@connection]Cambridge United[/@connection]

As with Saturday, the only players unavailable to Jim Smith because of injury are club captain Phil Gilchrist and his fellow defender Chris Willmott. However, he does have a further string to add to his bow, with the news that midfielder Danny Rose, who played so well for the club last season while on loan from Manchester United, has rejoined United on a month-to-month contract, following his failure to secure a deal with Bristol Rovers. Rose is in the Oxford squad for tonight's game, but he is unlikely to start. With a trip to Burton Albion on Sunday, Smith may choose to tinker a little with the side that won on Saturday, or he may prefer to keep a winning line-up the same, and make a few alterations at the weekend.

Cambridge, of course, are old adversary from Football League days, and encounters have been pretty even, with United just having the upper hand. Their current squad features three former Us, with Courtney Pitt and Rob Wolleaston, plus Cambridge skipper Dan Brown. However, there is a doubt over Brown's appearance today, as he is apparently unwell. For those of you with a predisposition to giving all your hard-earned to the bookies, The Times reckons tonight's match will be a draw. Rage Online is disinclined to disagree with our intellectual superiors, and so we're going to predict a 1-1 scoreline. No doubt we, and The Times, will be proven wrong later.

Tuesday's and yesterday's results in the Conference have left just one club with a 100 percent record: Exeter City beat Crawley 2-0 to become the early pace-setters, although either of tonight's opponents would join them on maximum points if they win. Fellow west-country outfit Torquay United also had a fine win, beating Aldershot 3-0, with Tim Sills and Chris Zebroski among the scorers. United's next opponents, Burton Albion, did well to beat York City 4-3, despite being 3-1 down with less than ten minutes remaining, and reduced to ten men. This leaves last season's play-off semi-finalists, York, pointless, like Crawley. Also with no points are Stafford Rangers, who lost 3-1 at home to Kidderminster Harriers. United's victims on Saturday, Forest Green Rovers, beat Weymouth 3-2, with Simon Weatherstone scoring the Terras' second. There was a surprise at Halifax where early-season relegation favourites Altrincham came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2. The surprise wasn't that Alty earned a point, but that former useless U Andy Campbell scored both goals for the Shaymen. Another former Oxford player, Wayne Hatswell, scored the only goal as Rushden & Diamonds beat newcomers Farsley Celtic 1-0. It took a last minute goal for pre-season promotion favourites Stevenage Borough to beat another new side, Histon, 2-1, while Droylsden did well to draw 3-3 at Northwich Victoria after being 2-0 down. One promoted side who did win was Salisbury City, who beat Ebbsfleet United 2-1. Yesterday saw Grays Athletic, who drew 0-0 with Torquay in their first game of the season, live on Setanta on Sunday, get another point in their 1-1 draw with Woking.