Three key players set to return ahead of Middlesbrough

Oxford coach, Des Buckingham, talks ahead of Saturday's fixture

Three key players are set to return to the U’s squad for tomorrow's contested fixture against Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough. 

Des praised the players coming back from international duty, stating the importance they get a few days rest before returning to training. He discussed the difficulty of having three international breaks before the end of the year and the fixture congestion it causes. They are set to play 11 games before Christmas, creating difficulty for Des’ side.

He expressed enthusiasm in the returns of Matthew Phillips, Przemyslaw PIacheta and Cameron Brannagan. They are all set to be in the squad for Saturday's 3pm kick off. Fans of the yellows will hope these additions to the squad will help inject some form into the side that have been slowly falling down the table following a solid start to the season.

After the soft reset of the international break Buckingham showed signs of hope going forward, wanting to: “Get that excitement back from the end of last year and start of this one”.

Buckingham expressed his feelings about hosting a ‘massive team’ and acknowledged that they have a ‘tough test ahead’.

Last week marked a year in charge for the coach. He called the last 12 months a ‘really exciting journey’ and is happy with the work the players have put in over the past year. Looking forward he said there’s still room to ‘get better’.