Oxford United's prospective opponents have taken note of their sudden burst of goalscoring form under new boss Ian Atkins - and are now reluctant to take them on!
Tomorrow's Division 3 game at Shrewsbury is in doubt, with a pitch inspection planned for 1pm today.
Atkins has managed to persuade Shrewsbury to agree to re-stage the game next Tuesday, should it fall foul of today's inspection, but the U's are having less luck in getting Rushden to reschedule the postponed New Year's Day game for the earliest opportunity.
"I think we've been involved in something like 28 goals in six games and you're not going to get much better than that," Atkins said. "Over the period of the last six games, we're the top scorers in the country.
"We've been preparing for Saturday and we hope the game's on. You don't want games off at this stage, especially with the players having a little bit more self-belief and confidence about them.
"People are starting to get a bit more wary of us, so any sign that a match is in doubt, I don't think teams are too bothered whether they play us at this time or not."
There is a covering of snow on the Gay Meadow terraces, access roads and pitch, and the ground is hard underneath, but a slight thaw is forecast for today and tomorrow.
Atkins added: "If it is off, it will be played on January 8, and we're trying to get the Rushden game for January 15, but it seems they're not keen."
Since Atkins took over from Mark Wright, United have scored 3-0-3-3-1-6 and the club's director of football admitted that last Saturday's hammering of Halifax even left his own players dumbfounded.
"After the game last Saturday, it was quite quiet in the dressing room. I don't think they could believe they had scored so many . . . it's been so long since they had a win like that.
"You're not going to hammer someone 6-1 every week, yet the more wins you have, it becomes a habit and then they believe they can go out and start beating teams.
"We've still got a lot of belief in us that has yet to come out."
Atkins is regarded with great affection at Shrewsbury, a club he helped climb from the bottom division to experience their best times in the Football League.
"I had eight great years at Shrewsbury," he said.
"You don't stay at a place for eight years and have the sort of success I had, one of the most successful periods in the club's history, and not have a feeling for it, and it's nice to see them doing well. I believe we can go there on Saturday and get a win, but it will be a hard game."
"We'll have to adapt to the surroundings and the conditions."
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