Roy Hunter will make his Oxford United debut at Bristol Rovers tomorrow - joining a team still buoyant from dumping Swindon out of the Cup.

Manager Ian Atkins will be without midfield duo James Hunt and Dave Savage, who are suspended after collecting five bookings.

And he has already told Hunter, who is still on non-contract forms, that he will make his first start for the U's in the Division 3 game.

The former Northampton Town captain appeared as a first-half substitute against Macclesfield last month, but has been waiting patiently for his chance.

"He was magnificent in the reserves the other day, our best player by miles," said the U's boss.

The 29-year-old midfielder, who began his career at West Brom, has made nearly 200 League appearances.

Atkins is weighing up whether to give the other vacancy to midfielder Dean Whitehead, or go for a 4-3-3 formation and bring in another striker.

David Oldfield, now recovered from his thigh strain, Andy Scott and Lee Steele are all in the squad, ready to line up alongside Steve Basham and Jefferson Louis who, after their performances against Swindon, would be hard to drop.

Atkins would, I believe, like to be in a position to offer Hunter more than just the match-to-match agreement he is currently on, but the player may first need to prove his worth in first-team games.