JOHNNY Mullins has urged Oxford United to prove last weekend’s hard-fought win over Newport County was an important moment in their season by backing it up with victory at Cambridge United today.

The U’s climbed out of the bottom two with a 1-0 win at the Kassam Stadium, despite playing for most of the second half with ten men.

Mullins captained the side in Jake Wright’s absence and hailed the character the side showed in adversity.

The centre back, who is set to wear the armband again this afternoon, felt it could be a turning point in the campaign – but only if it started a strong run.

Latest Sport news

He said: “It’s hard to say now, but you could look back at the end of the season and say that was a game where things clicked.

“I hope it is, but it means nothing if we don’t get a result at Cambridge.”

Cambridge are back in the Football League after a nine-year exile in the Conference.

They have made a steady start in Sky Bet League Two and Mullins is expecting to come up against a buoyant home team in the televised game, which kicks off at 12.15pm.

“Teams that have come up have that extra bit of confidence,” he said.

U’s boss Michael Appleton also thinks the defending United had to do late on against Newport will serve them well.

He said: “Cambridge have got a lot of height and are very dangerous from set plays, so we’re going to have to deal with that.”

Wright (knee) and Alfie Potter (groin) are expected to miss out again, while Tyrone Barnett serves a one-game suspension.

Cambridge have several players unavailable.

Skipper Ian Miller, Issa Diallo and Tom Champion are injured, while Tom Naylor is suspended.

Former Manchester United winger Luke Chadwick could return after a hamstring injury.

TODAY’S SQUADS

Cambridge Utd: from Dunn, Tait, Coulsen, Nelson, G Taylor, Hughes, Donaldson, Simpson, Dunk, Appiah, Elliott, Lanzoni, Lennon, B Taylor, Stockley, Hurst, Bird, Chadwick, Norris.

Oxford Utd: from Clarke, Riley, Raynes, Mullins, Newey, Collins, Rose, Jakubiak, Howard, O’Dowda, Hylton, Morris, Brown, Whing, Ruffels, S Long, Hunt, G Long.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.