Tomorrow's the day

Less than 24 hours to go to the start of the new season and the visit of Bury to the Kassam Stadium for the first time. It's going to be a grand occasion and hopefully the Us can justify the habitual pre-season optimism with a win. Ian Atkins has already given us a strong clue as to what the side will look like with a consistent line-up in the pre-season friendlies.

Andy Woodman will start in goal with Atkins' favourite centre-back pairing of Andy Crosby and Matt Bound in front of him (a selection aided by the fact that we have no other centre-backs on the books) and the two new full backs, Scott McNiven and Matt Robinson on either side. The midfield will almost certainly feature Dave Savage on the left and Dean Whitehead on the right, with two of James Hunt, Bobby Ford or Dave Waterman in the centre. Up front Lee Steele is suspended and both Andy Scott and Dave Basham aren't completely fit yet, so Dave Oldfield and Manny Omoyinmi are the likely starting duo.

Only about 5,500 tickets have been sold so far (and only 120 or so of those are from Bury) so there'll probably be a lowish crowd to welcome the new season. Despite the aura of optimism that has suddenly descended on Oxfordshire, mainly due to the signings of Ford and Basham, it should be remembered that Bury were a Division Two side last season and have players such as Jon Newby, whilst shedding Matt Murphy, to ensure that they'll be hard to beat. Whilst the heart says that United will breeze to victory, the head says that new-season jitters will get to the team and the final score will be 1-1.

Kitted out

Just as Bury have announced a new black away kit, which they will probably be showcasing tomorrow, so United too have announced that they are releasing a third kit, in a fetching shade of black. It won't be available for a few weeks yet, but it is certainly timely for those scratching around for ideas what they should give Rage Online editors for Christmas.

Joe and Dick

Joey Beauchamp is likely to feature for Abingdon Town in their pre-season friendly tomorrow as a fitness exercise. Joey's brother Luke plays for Town and suggested the possibility, which could become a longer term deal, at least until Joey's operation on his toe in October.

Meanwhile former United goalie Richard Knight could be joining Oxford City, alongside Ian McGuckin. Knight is in the process of moving down to Oxford from Derby and playing for City will keep him in the shop window whilst he looks for a proper club.