Match Preview | Wanderers v Oxford United (Play-Off Final)

Preview

Wanderers will walk out at Wembley once again on Saturday afternoon to take on Oxford United in the Sky Bet League One Play-Off Final.

Ian Evatt's men will be backed by over 30,000 Wanderers supporters in the capital with a place in the Sky Bet Championship at stake.

Manager quotes

Ian Evatt: "We're excited by it, we're looking forward to it and our focus is where it needs to be, which is on the game and making sure we perform to the best of our ability. We can't guarantee a result of the back of that, but it gives us a great chance and that's where our focus has to be.

"It's the biggest game since I've been at the club, there's no denying that. There's been a lot of hard work, not just from myself but everybody; the players, my staff, Sharon (Brittan), the Board. 

“Everybody has worked tirelessly to put us in a position to have this game and now for us it's about focusing on the game and giving ourselves the best chance. The best chance we can have is by playing well and we must make sure we go there and have no regrets.”

Image
Ian Evatt

Team News

There are no fresh injury concerns within the squad for Ian Evatt and his staff to have to worry about ahead of the final.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson has been back in training this week so he will be raring to go if called upon for the weekend.

Form Guide

Oxford finished the season in 5th position which meant they faced Peterborough United in the Play-Off semi finals. The Yellows edged the first leg with a 1-0 win courtesy of an Elliott Moore header in the second half.

And then following a resilient 1-1 in the second leg, Des Buckingham's side booked their place at Wembley to take on the Whites.

Wanderers themselves faced a tricky Barnsley side with a plucky never-say-die mentality. Ian Evatt's men came away from Oakwell with a 3-1 win in the away leg before a late flurry of Barnsley goals in the second leg ensured a nervy finish at the Toughsheet Community Stadium but Wanderers stood firm to see it through.

In the regular season, it was a stalemate at the Kassam Stadium before Wanderers were on fine form for a 5-0 home victory over the Yellows. Despite the Whites fairing well in those fixtures, those memories will be wiped clear with a winner takes all tie on the line.

Image
Team

Officials:

Referee: Sam Barrott

Assistant Referees: Paul Hodskinson and Nigel Lugg

Fourth Official: Andrew Kitchen

Video Assistanr Referee: Peter Bankes

Kick-off:

Saturday, 4:15pm.

Coverage:

This game will be live on Sky Sports and therefore isn’t available to stream on Wanderers TV in the UK.

International supporters are still able to watch live on Wanderers TV with UK based supporters able to listen with an audio pass.

You can buy a match pass by clicking HERE.

International supporters can buy either a match pass, an annual pass or a monthly pass to watch the match by clicking HERE.

Read Time: 3 mins