United visit Torquay tomorrow, hoping desperately for a change in fortunes as they try to get their promotion bid back on track. Oxford are without a win under Graham Rix, who has demonstrated a distinct lack of conservatism in his approach so far. Rix made five changes to the side for the visit of Boston on Friday, and may well make further alterations as he searches fo a winning formula. We won’t try and second-guess the line-up, but we note that on-loan Coventry midfielder Barry Quinn could weel be in contention, having recovered from his groin strain.

Torquay have themselves been stuttering a bit lately, and now find themselves one point ahead of United, and five behind third-placed Huddersfield. They are hampered in their search for promotion by virtue of having not one, but two, former United goalies on their books in Arjan van Heusden and Kevin Dearden. This leaves the potential for tomorrow’s game to become a United trivia question, should various custodial substitutions be made. Rage Online’s New Year’s resolution to be more optimistic has been well and truly battered recently, and we find ourselves unable to predict anything other than a 2-0 reverse (or maybe that is being optimistic).

Tomorrow’s other important fixture sees Raging Fever take on Barnstaple Gulls in Newton Abbot. This requires a 6.30 am departure from Oxford for many of the side, which really is taking dedication to the cause a bit too far. Don’t expect any news updates until Tuesday.