It's yet another “Biggest Game of the Season” tomorrow, as United visit joint-top Histon. This is United's third away game in a row, having lost at lowly Grays Athletic last Saturday and then beaten even-lowlier Dorchester Town in the FA Cup on Tuesday. Last season there were collective gasps around the Conference when Histon beat the Us 1-0 on the telly, but this time around a similar result will hardly raise any eyebrows outside Oxford.

Darren Patterson will be without Barry Quinn, who may have to undergo surgery on his injured ankle, but Luke Foster looks to have recovered from his similar injury. Foster played the full 120 minutes at Dorchester, and the defence is likely to remain unchanged tomorrow. Patterson has hinted that he will choose his side to counter John Beck's infamous hoofing tactic, and so it's likely that the midfield will feature both Eddie Hutchinson and Phil Trainer. This is likely to mean no recall for Joe Burnell, while either ROS Sam Deering or, more likely, Lewis Haldane may have to make way. We would expect James Constable and Jamie Guy to continue up front together, with Yemi Odubade on the bench, despite his last-minute goal on Tuesday. [@opponent]histon[/@opponent][@connection]histon[/@connection]

Histon have surprised everybody with their excellent form this season, but it remains to be seen whether they can maintain it over the hectic Christmas period. They endeared themselves to the Oxford public by beating Swindon 1-0 in the first round of the FA Cup, and will now have their minds on the impending visit of Leeds United in the second round, a game that will be shown on the box. Their danger man is Josh Simpson who, like Constable, scored for England C against Italy last week. Histon are rare in the Conference in that they don't have any ex-Us in their squad, so the goals may well be more evenly spread. Let's hope that their strikers will run out of steam as they try to get past Matt Day's bottom.