Sandwith's major role

Kevin Sandwith, who three months ago was at doomed-looking Weymouth and was not getting paid, steps into the breach at centre half to replace the suspended Chris Willmott, who was sent off in the 1-0 win at Burton.

But U’s boss Chris Wilder is not concerned about the en-forced change.

“Obviously, we miss Motty through suspension, which is a blow, but we feel we’ve got adequate cover in that position, and with the players coming in not weakening it.”

Otherwise, Wilder is expected to name the same system and attacking combinations he has used in recent games, Adam Murray linking with James Constable up front, and with support on both wings – Lewis Haldane on one side, and Craig Nelthorpe or Yemi Odubade on the other.

Wilder does also have the option of using Craig Farrell from the start, but he may be wary of Northwich because of their impressive recent run.

He said: “We take into account, as always, the opposition, and their strengths and weaknesses, and where we can exploit a weakness in certain positions.

“Mickey (Lewis) and I went up to see them against Ebbs-fleet and it was a good opportunity for us to look at them because they’ve been on a gr-eat run, winning the last five games, which is a great achievement.

“The manager will possibly be disappointed that he didn’t get the job a month or a month and a half earlier because the players he’s got there would have a great opportunity of surviving.

“We’ve got our ideas of how we want to play.

“Always with the front four, we want them to play with freedom and to be positive.

“The good thing is that we have got variations, in terms of how I want to go about it – 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 or whatever.”

There will be a great atmosphere at the Kassam Stadium.

But Wilder wants to make sure Oxford don’t make the same mistake as Burton, with the Brewers and their fans thinking they needed only to turn up to get the point they required and some celebrations beginning before the match had started.

“There’s nothing to celebrate until after the game in my mind,” Wilder stressed. “And there won’t be anything to celebrate unless we get the three points.

“I commend the positive attitude of everbody, and it’s great for the players and for the football club in terms of what we’re trying to achieve.

“But we’ve got to make sure that for 90 minutes the players are focused, don’t get caught up in the occasion, or get caught up in what’s going off at any other ground, they concentrate their minds on getting 80 points, which is really 85 points.”

None of Northwich’s five straight wins have come against the leading teams, but they will still be confident.

Jonny Allan scored again in Thursday night’s 2-0 win over Ebbsfleet to take his tally to five in the last four games.

Vics have three players who need to be watched.

In addition to Allan, a hard-working striker who has been with them for six years, they have a bit of extra quality from Lee Elam and ex-Accrington man Joe Byrom.

Byrom, who notched a hat-trick in their 4-2 win over Rushden last month, takes all their set pieces.

Perhaps the key to their improvement since Andy Preece took over has been their defence, with tall duo Danny Meadowcroft and the experienced Simon Grand (ex-Rochdale, Carlisle, Morecambe and Grimsby) both solid at the back.

The club have been dogged by uncertainty, however, with Preece their fourth manager in a campaign plagued by financial problems.

Northwich were forced to play a couple of matches at local rivals Altrincham because former chairman Mike Connett, who still owns the ground, reportedly removed essential equipment from Victoria Park as a financial dispute dragged on.

They were relegated after a run of just one win in 20 league games, even though that was a shock 2-1 triumph at promotion-chasing Kidderminster.

Dino Maamria, who hauled them to safety at the end of last season, Mike Marsh and ex-Lewes boss Steve King were all in charge over the winter, before former Bury boss Preece took over in March.

Preece, a fine forward in his playing days with Blackpool Stockport and Crystal Palace, has done an excellent job in lifting the spirits so far.

Oxford United have generally done well against the Cheshire outfit.

But if they need a reminder about just how unpredictable football can be, it comes from the end of last season when they were on a similarly very good run, on their way to winning nine of their last 11 matches.

The only one the U’s didn’t win at home in that time was against Northwich, when their former striker, Lee Steele, fired in a tenth-minute winner in a shock 1-0 victory.

Thankfully, Steele – whose goal for Leyton Orient against them on the final day of the 2005-6 season also condemned Oxford United to relegation from the Football League – is no longer at Northwich.

He joined Barrow on loan earlier this year and has since left the club as one of their many cost-cutting measures.

Those measures mean Vics will probably again have just a 14-man squad tomorrow, with only three on the bench.

Oxford Utd: (from) Turley, Batt, Foster, Sandwith, Carruthers, Haldane, Chapman, Clist, Nelthorpe, Murray, Constable, Farrell, Odubade, Hinchliffe, Hutchinson, Day.

Northwich Vic: (from) Clarke, Joyce, Bailey, Grand, Meadowcroft, Mullan, Byrom, Elan, Horrocks, Allan, Burns, Riley, Farran, Richards.