Oxford United come up against the striker they desperately tried to sign when they face Walsall marksman Darren Byfield at the Bescot Stadium tonight, writes Jon Murray.

And the ex-Villa rookie must feel he made the right decision in choosing a Walsall side who lie top of the second division with a 100 per cent record, rather than an Oxford outfit still searching for their first point and first league goal.

Byfield, who actually opted for the Saddlers because it was much closer to home, hit his third goal of the season in Walsall's 4-1 win at Swindon on Saturday.

"I couldn't believe my luck when Walsall called," he said. "I was interested in joining Oxford because of Denis Smith's record with strikers like Marco Gabbiadini, Andy Cole and Lee Hughes.

"But I knew all about Ray Graydon's reputation as a disciplinarian and knew he would be good for me." After being turned down by Byfield, Smith turned to Manny Omoyinmi who, although he has been lively in all four games he has played, has yet to find the net.

But goalkeeper Richard Knight who, along with Jon Richardson has maintained a consistenly high standard in every match, said: "We've got to just keep going and keep our heads up, and hopefully just get a few results.

"We were really disappointed after Brentford. We actually felt we played quite well in patches. But Brentford were hard to break down. They just got behind the ball and played it long it was very different than against Wolves.

"Walsall's another game. If we work hard and play how we're capable of playing, then I don't see any reason why we can't get a result there."

Smith could recall Ian McGuckin and Joey Beauchamp to the side after injury if they show no ill-effects from yesterday's training.

McGuckin would probably replace Jon Shepheard on the left side of central defence, with Beauchamp taking over from Matt Murphy, who was poor on Saturday. But, as Smith points out: "Murphy's the only one who's scored for me so far."

If Beauchamp fails to make it, Peter Fear could return to midfield.

"Walsall weren't bad last year and they've improved since then," said the U's boss. "They've always been a decent side, it's up to us to go and do a job on them."

As well as the pace of Byfield, United will somehow have to deal with the skill of Hungarian international midfielder Gabor Bukran who proved far too good for Swindon on Saturday when Brett Angell, arguably the best centre forward in Division 2, could only find a place on the bench.