Match Preview

Hungerford Town v Oxford City
Where: Bulpit Lane, RG17 0AY
When: Wednesday 1st January 2020
K.O 3PM
As 2020 approaches, 2019 has been a difficult year for Hungerford. However who could forget that famous win at Torquay, the Noah Chesmain strike that kept us in the league, the 5-0 demolition of St Albans and fighting back from two-nil down to beat Dulwich in their own back yard. More special memories are hopefully to be made in 2020 but the first target will be to stay up. The first month of the New Year is a crucial one which could determine fate.

Form guide- After beating Hungerford 3-2 on Boxing Day, Oxford lost 2-1 to Weymouth on Saturday. Meanwhile the Crusaders lost out 3-1 to Havant and Waterlooville at the weekend.

Team news - Oxford have no new injury concerns and therefore should operate with the same squad that travelled to Weymouth. Hungerford have a host of first team players out. Yan Klukowski, Bradley Webb, Marcus Johnson-Schuster, Louis McGrory and Matt Berry-Hargreaves are all expected not to feature. Dan Bailey took a heavy knock on Saturday and will be assessed. Either Mike Jones or Ralph Graham will replace Bailey if he's not fit enough to start.

Star man- Zac McEachran inspired Oxford to victory against Hungerford, scoring two goals including one special 20 yard strike. The midfielder will need to be kept quiet as he orchestrates most attacks. For the hosts, Joe Tomlinson has been a versatile asset this season. Tomlinson has played left back, left midfield, right midfield and right back. The latter is where he is most likely to start on Wednesday against Oxford and his work rate helps the Crusaders in both defence and attack.

Head to head- The Hoops won 3-2 when these sides met six days ago. Last season Hungerford took four points from a possible six winning 2-1 away and drawing 1-1 at Bulpit Lane. In 2017/18 Oxford did the league double winning 2-0 at Marsh Lane before emerging 2-1 victors in Berkshire. In 2016/17 the Crusaders won both meetings. An emphatic 6-0 away success following a 2-0 win earlier in the season.