DES Buckingham is hopeful that Oxford United can defy the oddsmakers and win away from the team that has the best home record in Sky Bet League One this year.
With 10 wins and 3 draws from their 16 games at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool leads all third-tier teams in points earned at home.
The last league loss the Seasiders suffered at home came against Northampton Town on November 28.
With their home record keeping them six points outside the top six and presently ranked eighth in the table, Neil Critchley’s team is still in the running for the play-off spots.
“I’m expecting a very good game against a very good team, certainly at home,” U’s head coach Buckingham stated. They have a very good track record and form there.
They will be vying for as many points as possible to secure a play-off spot because they have some excellent players and are close to those spots.
“It is our responsibility to go up there and leave with a performance to support the outcome, not just a result.”
Supporters of United are familiar with two of the Tangerines’ attacking threats, who are at the end of their careers.
While on loan from Huddersfield Town this season, 34-year-old Jordan Rhodes has scored 15 goals in 29 games, while Kyle Joseph, who spent last season on loan with the U’s, scored nine goals in 37 league appearances.
Rhodes briefly played for United at the start of his career, scoring twice while on loan from Ipswich Town in an FA Cup qualifying round match at Merthyr Tydfil.
Due to a rib injury, he has been deemed “very doubtful” for this afternoon’s match; however, Blackpool can still rely on players like CJ Hamilton and Karamoko Dembele, two former Celtic sensations with 13 assists between them in League One.
“They’re a very strong attacking side, but you’d expect that from teams in the top half of the table,” stated Buckingham.
You can see that every team, including our own, has the capacity to turn it on at any time.
“We know that Blackpool has that, but so do we.”
“With the table at the moment, I think anyone in the top 10 could probably make a run at it,” he continued.
“We’ve recovered over the past five or six weeks from being extremely overextended, and now the focus is on ensuring that we can maintain our position in and around those play-off spots, or ideally in the top two.
“We’re right in the thick of things, and as I’ve said before, we should keep getting stronger as players return, and we’ll try to focus on the future rather than the past.”
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