United visit Field Mill on Saturday in a game that could prove to be the fixture on which their whole season hangs. Mansfield are currently six points behind Oxford, but with two games in hand. A win would give the Us some much-needed breathing space, while a defeat would leave the way open for Mansfield, as well as others, to overtake them. Although Oxford are now in the unfortunate position of having to rely on others’ results to go their way, they must at the same time ensure that they are ready to take advantage should others slip up.

This is probably the best time to visit Mansfield, who have lost five of their last six games (the anomolies being at York and at home to Hull). United, on the other hand, yesterday managed to win their first match in seven, and confidence will be flooding back (hopefully). The Stags’ last game was a 3-0 thumping at Bury, and Oxford should, in theory, be able to take the game to Mansfield. Of course, we know well enough that anything can happen in football, especially where Oxford are concerned, and we are taking nothing for granted. We therefore will fall back on our tried and tested prediction for away games of a 1-0 defeat.

Ian Atkins, meanwhile, speaking on Fox FM, has denied rumours that he is about to join Bristol Rovers, claiming “I am going nowhere”. This unequivocal statement hasn’t stopped the rumours though, with several different unconfirmed reports that Graham Rix is due to take over, with Martin Keown coming in next season as his assistant. This is very much a “believe it if it happens” scenario, and we recommend not losing any sleep over it. More should be revealed tomorrow, when the Gas are poised to announce who their new manager is going to be.