Oxford United are out for revenge when they visit The Lamb on Sun-day after their shock 1-0 home defeat by Tam-worth on January 16.

But more important than any thoughts of getting their own back is the need to return to winning ways to kick-start again their chase for automatic promotion.

It will be a massive boost for the U’s if they can have either top scorer James Constable or winger Alfie Potter – or both – back, because Gary Mills’s team have been very solid defensively all season.

Even with some recent in-juries, they have still kept it tight, managing a 0-0 draw at Mansfield at the weekend, when they were unlucky not to win the match, hitting the post and having one cleared off the line at the end.

That result came despite the absence of captain Chris Smith through suspension, and the centre half sits out Sunday’s game, completing a two-game ban for reaching ten yellow cards.

Michael Briscoe picked up an ankle injuryat Field Mill and is rated doubtful.

Former United left back Michael Blackwood is also “very doubtful” because of a knee injury.

Coming back into the team last week was veteran Des Lyttle.

Now 38, Lyttle has as good a CV as anyone in the Confer-ence, playing his part when Nottingham Forest finished third in the Premier League in 1994-5.

Lyttle, who played 185 times for Forest and later 76 for West Brom, as well as spells with Swansea, Watford and Northampton, joined Tam-worth three years ago.

He has been mainly on the bench this season, but came in and did a good job at Mansfield.

Boss Mills, who played under Brian Clough for Forest and managed Notts County, often goes back to Nottingham for players, and he used his contacts to take aaron Mitchell, a 20-year-old centre back, when he was released by Forest in Jan-uary.

Mitchell, who made the bench for Forest at the start of the season, is nicknamed “Crouchie”, for obvious reasons – he’s 6ft 7in tall!

Oxford quickly sold out of their allocation of 800 tickets for this game.

And why is it on a Sunday? It’s because Tamworth’s stewards also double up as Stoke City’s stewards, and Stoke are at home to Spurs tomorrow.

Ironically, the Tamworth v Oxford United game does now clash with a big Sport Relief run in the Staffordshire town on Sunday, although part of it takes place in the morning.

However, with the popular one-mile run taking place around the castle from 1pm-2pm, expect congestion if you’re going to the match.

United’s coaching staff have been working this week on making the team harder to score against, and better from set plays.

Chris Wilder admitted after seeing Kettering’s headed goal from a corner, which earned them a point in a 1-1 draw at the Kassam Stadium: “Teams are scoring too easily against us at the moment.

“I couldn’t see them scoring . . . it’s amazing what a mistake does, because that goal gave them a real lift.

“It’s something we’ve got to be better with. We’ve got to up our quality in pressure situations.

“We have a week to work on things and hopefully we can improve Sammy’s (Deering) set-pieces.

“We do set-pieces during the week, and they go in decent areas, but players have to have the courage of conviction when the bullets are flying, with 5,500 people here.

“So when he sticks the first one into the first man, he’s got to have the quality to be better after that. And that’s not just Sam, that’s everyone.”