United visit 7th-placed Southend on Saturday hoping to capitalise on the euphoria surrounding the club ending its run of five league defeats. Many supporters feel that the single-goal victory over Cheltenham at the KasStad on Saturday has heralded a reversal of fortunes for the Us. We hope they’re right, but we suspect that they might be a tad premature in their optimism. It was nice to see a strong defence, a combative midfield, and a probing forward line, but we have yet to be convinced that Oxford can play like that consistently.

We don’t anticipate any personnel changes for the Yellows at Southend, although it is possible that, if Chris Tardif has recovered from his back injury, he could replace Simon Cox in goal as Coxy’s handling wasn’t all that it should have been on Saturday. Otherwise we expect to see Chris Hackett and former Shrimper Mark Rawle on the bench, with other ex-Southenders Leo Roget and Tommy Mooney retaining their places in the side. Sam Togwell, star of his debut against Cheltenham, should line up alongside Roget and Jon Ashton.

Southend will be buoyed by their emphatic win over Shrewsbury in the LDV Vans Trophy on Tuesday, and also by the permanent capture of former loan striker Fredy Eastwood, from Grays Athletic. Eastwood has scored six goals in his first five games for the Essex boys and will provide a big test for the United defence. Despite the high spirits after Saturday’s win, we will be pleasantly surprised if United can maintain the momentum, and we sadly predict a 1-0 win to Southend.