OXFORD City chairman Mick Woodley has defended the decision to concede home advantage for their FA Cup first-round replay against Wycombe Wanderers..

The tie goes back to Adams Park on Tuesday, November 9 (7.45) after City took police advice that it would not be safe to stage it at their own Court Place Farm ground, and also decided against taking up an offer from Oxford United to host it.

It seems that when the decision - which had to be made before last Saturday's shock 1-1 draw - was taken, City had not entertained the possibility that they may get a second crack at the Division 2 club.

The Ryman Division 1 club are also waiting to see if Sky will pick the replay for live coverage - something which is worth £75,000 to each club - although the chances of this happening have receded as the game is not at Court Place Farm.

Woodley admitted: "After all our hard work to develop Court Place Farm, I can assure you that we are terribly disappointed.

"Within a couple of days of learning we had drawn Wycombe, we had to make a decision where we would stage a replay.

"Frankly, I have to say that the necessity for a replay was something which in our wildest dreams we never imagined would arise.

"But then, after discussions with the police, it was apparent that we would not be able to safely stage it at Court Place Farm.

"An all-ticket, midweek FA Cup derby replay with a healthy following from Wycombe, great interest locally and not least additional supporters from Oxford United, could cause problems.

"This is especially with demand for tickets exceeding the number we could safely accommodate. Segregation of fans would be another problem.

"We did consider the Manor but at the time it seemed more sensible, especially in view of the short trip for our fans, not to involve a third party.

"It was not, as reported in last night's Oxford Mail, because it was not financially viable."

United asked for no more than ten per cent of the profits, in line with FA guidelines, for staging any replay.

Woodley said that if they had been playing a club from further away, they would also have tried to stage the game.

City manager Paul Lee admitted that he would rather the tie was not at Wycombe - and he felt it would be even harder to go to Adams Park and surprise Wanderers for a second time.

"Obviously, I would have preferred it to be at home or at the Manor," he said.

Story date: Tuesday 02 November

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