The next two weeks in the race for automatic promotion from the Blue Square Premier are going to seem strange.

That’s because the top two are never playing on the same day in the league.

Stevenage are involved in their two-legged FA Carlsberg Trophy semi-final against Kidderminster tom-orrow and on Saturday March 20, with the first leg at Aggborough.

And that gives Oxford United the opportunity to return to the top of the table if they can beat Kettering at the Kassam Stadium.

Then Stevenage play again in the league on Tuesday, when they will expect to return to the top with a home game against Histon, and the following Sunday it’s Oxford who are in action, at Tamworth . . . and so it goes on.

With Stevenage playing on the Tuesday the following week, and Oxford on the Wednesday, it’s not until Saturday March 27 that they are both involved in league matches on the same day.

Oxford look to have the better final run-in, with three of their last four games at home, while Stevenage have trips to Altrincham, Kidderminster and Gateshead before they finish off at home to play-off chasing York.

For the supporters of both clubs, there are going to be a lot of highs and lows between now and the final day of the season.