United travel to Field Mill tomorrow to take on Mansfield in a fixture that has lost its importance for the Yellows, and is of no significance to Oxford either. United will be keen to reverse recent fortunes, which has seen them lose four of their last five games, and individual players will have the desire to play well as contract negotiations are due to commence shortly. Despite the lack of confirmation of the status of the management team for next season, it seems reasonable to assume that Ramon Diaz and Horacio Rodriguez will be involved to some extent after the Summer.

There will almost certainly be some changes to the side that lost at home to Grimsby last Saturday, with skipper Lee Bradbury back from suspension. Craig Davies could feature up front after playing well for the first half hour of the reserves’ game against Carterton on Tuesday, although he was forced off with a knee injury. Amine Karam gave a scintillating left-wing display in that match, but whether he will be considered for first-team duty at this stage is unlikely. Lucas Cominelli played well against Grimsby, and he could be prefered to compatriot Juan Pablo Raponi, or else maybe both Argentineans will play, with Bradbury playing wide right in place of Chris Hackett. Who knows?

Mansfield won’t have Scott McNiven back in their line-up yet, although he has now recovered from his operation for testicular cancer. Lack of reserve games over the past few weeks mean that McNiv lacks match fitness. With Mansfield having a pretty poor home record recently, and Oxford’s recent form being pretty shakey, Rage Online is going for a surprise 1-1 prediction.