Following their first defeat of the season on Saturday, United take a break from league action and have a little rest against little-known local outfit Reading (as in Otis). Steve Basham remains a major doubt for Oxford following the ankle injury he received at Cheltenham last Tuesday, and Paul Wanless apparently has a slight calf strain that he picked up at Doncaster. Mark Rawle should have recovered from his virus now and is favourite to start alongside Julian Alsop should Bash not make it, Andy Scott having done himself no favours on Saturday.

Reading currently don’t have a manager, but are in the charge of Kevin Dillon, lately of the Magic Roundabout. Reading have lost two of their last three games, but have beaten United on the last three meetings.

However, this is the cup and history counts for nothing (although it is worth pointing out that Oxford have won the last four encounters between the sides in the League Cup). All things considered we suspect that Reading might be a tad too strong for the Us, and we wouldn’t be at all surprised if they beat United 1-0. It would, however, ruin the rest of the week for us.