OXFORD United seem likely to be without centre back Phil Gilchrist at Swindon tomorrow night.

Gilchrist, who pulled a hamstring in Sunday's 3-0 victory over Portsmouth, missed last season's Division 1 derby at Swindon, where United crashed 4-1, one of their heaviest defeats of the year.

United's assistant manager Mark Harrison said yesterday: "Gilly came off immediately so he should not have aggravated it any further."

If he is ruled out again, boss Malcolm Shotton and his No 2 Harrison must weigh up whether to stick with Simon Marsh, who switched from left back to central defence at half-time against Pompey, or recall Brian Wilsterman, whose only senior appearance this season came in the 3-2 Worthington Cup win at Luton. There is also a chance that Steve Davis, who was ordered to rest ten days ago, could be fit to return. Swindon defender Brian Borrows is also rated doubtful for tomorrow's game after he too pulled a hamstring. Goalkeeper Frank Talia has been having treatment after taking a blow in the face from the knee of Bristol City striker Ade Akinbiyi, but he's expected to get the OK to face Oxford.

Said Harrison: "Hopefully Sunday's win will now provide the launch pad for the rest of the season. "Swindon got their win on Saturday so it was vital that we kept with them. But form goes out of the window in derby matches and they become a bit of a battle. It will be a war of nerves and hopefully, our nerve will hold out."

By last night United had sold more than 1700 of their 2,200 ticket allocation for this all-ticket game.

Remaining tickets will be on sale from the Manor today and tomorrow, but they are not available at the match.

Police are mounting their second massive presence at the County Ground in four days.

A fear of trouble was being blamed as one of the reasons why Saturday's Swindon v Bristol City local derby attracted just 8,500 fans, some 3,000 of them coming from Bristol.

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