Oxford the visitors as Pools get back in action

By Albatross
January 17 2003

After last week's early postponement, Pools are back in action with the visit of Oxford. A Gordon Watson strike saw us take the points when we met earlier this season, and with Oxford climbing into the promotion chase another tight game looks likely.

Oxford will provide one of our sternest tests, and are currently one of the form sides in the division. Their last defeat in the league was on November 2nd, and Ian Atkins won December's Manager of the Month award. A combination of postponements and their cup exploits mean that they have only played one game so far in January, when they drew 1-1 at home to Darlo.

Their away record is particularly good, with six league wins on their travels. One of those was their 2-0 win at Rushden that helped Pools reclaim top spot, and they are therefore not to be underestimated.

It's fair to say that Oxford's strength is not up front - just 30 goals scored in the league this season, the lowest in the top half. Their defence however has been as mean as a mean thing in a particularly mean mood, conceding just 19 goals - comfortably the best in the division. Currently 6th, they have games in hand on pretty much everyone.

Leading scorers in the League for them this season are Andy Scott (5), Jefferson Louis and Steve Basham (4), and former Darlo defender Andy Crosby with 3. They have tended to play 5-3-2, and although key defender David Waterman is suspended for the game Christian Edwards has just arrived on loan from Notts Forest and looks a more than adequate replacement.

The postponement of last Saturday's game at Macclesfield means that Spike is now suspended for this game instead, and yesterday's runout for the Reserves at Blackburn provide a clue or two as to how Newell is going to shuffle his pack. Sharp, Simms and Arnison all played in the game, and so it looks likely that Mickey Barron will move into the middle alongside Chris Westwood and Jon Bass will slot in on the right. Bass was considered unlucky by many to be left out of the Boston game after a superb performance against Carlisle, and will no doubt be looking to impress again. How comfortable Barron will be us up for debate though: in the past he's looked much more comfortable as part of a back three.

Paul Smith has a virus that has delayed his return from the gash he suffered at Hull, so Ritchie Humphreys should continue on the left; up front it looks likely that there will be no change, although two goals in the reserves from Kevin Henderson will have done his chances no harm. Gordon Watson looks unlikely to feature; after playing 90 minutes on Thursday I expect he will be asked to get at least one more reserve game under his belt before he is considered for a place.

Oxford are likely to try and play on the break - much as Pools have done away from home this season - and it's unlikely to be much of a spectacle. A tight game with few chances at either end sounds like a pretty safe bet. However I'm going to back Pools to unlock the Oxford defence at least once, and so I predict a 1-0 win with Williams netting.