Oxford United

"The nature of where we are in the league means that we are going to convert far fewer leads than other teams towards the top end of the table.

"Even though I would understand and agree that sometimes the way that we approach games from being ahead isn't the most aggressive and it does invite a draw into being a more likely scenario, I wouldn't say that necessarily that Saturday was a great example of that."

The Dub team discuss point-hugging accusations as Oxford United claimed a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough, but were unable to turn the performance into three points, and how big a blow losing captain Cameron Brannagan may be with games against Norwich City and Ipswich Town on the horizon.

Listen to the full episode of The Dub and more Oxford United content on BBC Sounds.

Philippe Clement will chase his first victory as Norwich City boss when they host Oxford United on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

Clement sealed his first game in charge of the Canaries with a 4-1 loss to Birmingham City on Saturday but will begin to earn the trust of the fans should he secure the side their first home point of the season.

Fail to do so and they will claim the worst home start ever in the English Football League - as well as leave them eight points adrift of 21st placed Oxford United.

• Norwich have won just one of their last five league games against Oxford (D1 L3), a 4-2 away win in the second tier in April 1999.

• Oxford have won just one of their 11 away league games against Norwich (D4 L6), a 3-1 victory in November 1998.

• Norwich have lost each of their last seven home league games, their longest ever losing streak in their league history. Since the 2004 rebrand, the only side to lose eight consecutive Championship home games are Burton Albion between September-December 2017.

• Since their promotion in 2024, Oxford have won just four of their 31 Championship away games (D10 L17), with no ever present side winning fewer in that time.

• Norwich have lost all seven of their home league games this season – no side in English Football League history has ever lost their first eight at the start of a campaign before.

Image source, Shutterstock

Oxford United boss Gary Rowett said he was frustrated with the Middlesbrough equaliser which cost his team a win against a promotion contender.

The Us manager told BBC Radio Oxford: "In some ways, I'm really proud of the team again, I'm proud of the effort, I'm proud of the way we've gone about the game.

"I thought the goal that we conceded was incredibly frustrating, the way they've played through us from a throw-in.

"We've allowed them to play through us rather than them doing anything amazing to get there and it's been a little bit of a hallmark of the moments where we need to be better.

"At the end, it kind of looked like neither team quite had enough to go and win the game.

"It's funny in the Championship, if you had said before the season we would be going toe-to-toe with a team like Middlesbrough, who are second in the league, and be disappointed that we haven't won the game, you would feel that would be a lofty statement to make but in reality that's where we are.

"It's another game where a point feels like you're frustrated."

Oxford United boss Gary Rowett says his side need "a reset" in their mentality as they continue to struggle in the Championship.

They are three points above the relegation zone after losing both their league games before the international break.

"If you look last season, particularly towards the end and maybe when I came in as well, there was that underdog, battling spirit of we are trying to survive in this division," Rowett told BBC Radio Oxford.

"We've meandered this season into trying to play like a mid-table team and we've been getting caught in-between.

"We've got to get back to really fighting and competing and battling for every single ball and every single point that we can get. That's something we've probably come away from."

Oxford face second-placed Middlesbrough on Saturday, however they will be boosted by more defensive options, with only centre-back Brodie Spencer remaining out.

Listen to the full interview with Rowett and more Oxford United content on BBC Sounds.

If you're wondering where your team is going to finish in the Championship this season, you no longer need to worry.

Well, kind of.

Opta's supercomputer has worked its magic to figure out the most likely final league position of every team - and the chances each has of being promoted, making the play-offs or getting relegated.

Who is most likely to win automatic promotion?

It will come as no surprise that leaders Coventry are heavy favourites for the title (69.3%) and also have the highest chance of automatic promotion (84.2%) to the Premier League.

The next most likely to go straight up, with a 30.8% chance, are Middlesbrough. Despite currently sitting seventh and six points behind Boro in second, Ipswich are expected to be the third favourites for a top two finish (18.9%) followed by Stoke (14.1%).

Even though they've each enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, Preston (10.3%), Hull (6.1%) and Millwall (8.3%) have slimmer chances of finishing in an automatic promotion spot.

Who will make the play-offs?

Image source, Rex Features

Even if Coventry don't win automatic promotion, Opta's supercomputer has given the Sky Blues a 97.9% chance of a top-six finish, suggesting it's almost guaranteed.

Each of Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Preston and Stoke are expected to finish in a minimum of a play-off position at least one in two times.

Hull might feel the hardest done by as they sit fifth currently, but are said to have less chance (32.3%) than Millwall (38.8%) and Charton (32.4%), who are below them in the table.

The most likely of the chasing pack to make a surge up the table are 12th-placed Leicester City, who have been given a 31.8% chance of finishing in the top six and are more likely than Bristol City (28.9%), Derby (22.9%) and Birmingham (19.9%).

Last season's beaten play-off finalists Sheffield United have just a 1.8% chance of recovering their season to make the play-offs again, while relegated Premier League side Southampton (12.5%) aren't likely to either... if you trust the supercomputer!

Who is going down?

Image source, Rex Features

It's probably not hard to work out who is most likely to finish bottom and be relegated to League One.

Sheffield Wednesday's 12-point deduction, which has left them 17 points adrift of safety on -4 points, means they're pretty much nailed on to finish bottom (84.8%) - and failing that, are almost certain to go down (98.2%).

Second from bottom Norwich are the next most likely candidates to fall through the trap door (58.5%) but Sheffield United, who currently occupy the final relegation spot, have just a 22.4% chance of going down and are considered more likely to stay up than Oxford (37.8%) and Portsmouth (31.3%).

While Middlesbrough await the arrival of potential new head coach Kim Hellberg, interim boss Adi Viveash will look for a second successive win as they make the trip down to Oxford United on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Despite the drama of former boss Rob Edwards' move to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Boro took victory last time out to see them within the top two.

Now they face an Oxford side lingering dangerously close to the relegation line and desperate not to concede a third straight loss.

• Oxford United have failed to win any of their last 10 league games against Middlesbrough (D2 L8), losing the last five in a row.

• Middlesbrough have won four of their last five away league games against Oxford (D1), scoring 18 goals across those five games, including a 6-2 win last season.

• Oxford manager Gary Rowett has won four of his 15 Championship meetings with Middlesbrough (D6 L5) with all four wins coming against a different manager – Garry Monk (3-0 with Derby in November 2017), Neil Warnock (1-0 with Millwall in March 2021), Leo Percovich (2-0 with Millwall in October 2022) and Michael Carrick (1-0 with Millwall in August 2023).

• Middlesbrough have won 29 points in 15 Championship games this season (W8 D5 L2), their best tally at this stage since 2015-16 when they had 30 points and later finished 2nd under Aitor Karanka.

• Only Wrexham's George Dobson (43) has made more tackles in the Championship this season than Middlesbrough's Aidan Morris (39) – he has also won the most fouls of any player in 2025-26 (39).

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United midfielder Filip Krastev scored his second international goal for Bulgaria as they finished their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win over Georgia.

The 24-year-old, who joined Oxford on loan from Belgian side Lommel in September, was on target in the 24th minute to give his side a 2-0 lead before Georgia struck a late consolation in Sofia.

The victory was Bulgaria's only win of a disastrous run which saw them lose their five other qualifiers and finish bottom of their group.

Krastev has made eight league appearances for Oxford and is set to be in their squad when they return to Championship action at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Image source, Getty Images

Will Vaulks has won the Fifpro Players Voice award for his work in suicide prevention and mental health awareness.

Having lost two grandparents to suicide, the midfielder led Oxford's Can We Talk? campaign in tribute to club legend Joey Beauchamp and Jack Badger, a young fan who took his own life shortly before World Mental Health Day.

The scheme has since launched suicide prevention workshops for Oxfordshire schools as well as piloting an innovative app designed to save lives.

Vaulks is also an ambassador of the UK's largest suicide-awareness initiative Baton of Hope and works with Oxford United in the Community and the Joey Beauchamp Foundation.

Talking about the club's campaign, he said, "you can't just do these videos and then walk away and think that you've had some great PR and you've done your bit because you haven't.

"We have to take care of our own house before we then preach to others."

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United owner Erick Thohir has increased his controlling interest in the club.

The Indonesian businessman, who is chairman of his country's football association, has acquired all the shares owned in the club by Oxford Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd.

As a result of the acquisition Horst Geicke has stepped down as a director of the Championship club.

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United midfielder Will Vaulks has been nominated for the Fifpro Players Voice award for his work in suicide prevention and mental health awareness.

The Wales international led Oxford's Can We Talk? campaign in 2024, which this year launched suicide prevention workshops for Oxfordshire schools as well as piloting an innovative app designed to save lives.

The campaign is supported by the UK's largest suicide-awareness initiative Baton of Hope,, external of which Vaulks is an ambassador.

The 32-year-old, whose family has personally been affected by suicide, also works with Oxford United in the Community and the Joey Beauchamp Foundation., external

The winner for the award will be announced next week during the 2025 Fifpro General Assembly in Lisbon.

Oxford United manager Gary Rowett says he "knows what happens" with his job if his side continue to struggle to win games.

The U's are just one place and three points above the Championship relegation zone after two defeats in a row and only one win in their past five games (D1 L3).

"I'm not happy where we are," Rowett told BBC Radio Oxford.

"I understand where we are in the Championship pecking order but I also understand my job is to get results and make sure at the very least we stay in this division.

"At the moment, the results we're getting are not quite good enough for that and I have to find a solution.

"That's my job, I have to do it and if I don't do it very well, it's the Championship and we know what happens at a lot of clubs up and down the country."

The 51-year-old was not prompted to speak about his future following the 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday but did so of his own accord.

"No one has asked me the question and the fans have been brilliant, but I know my job," he added.

Podcaster George Elek told BBC Radio Oxford's The Dub show that the timing and wording of Rowett's comments before an international break were "quite strange".

"Normally managers don't like to be made to answer questions about their future but no one has asked about Gary Rowett's future and he decided to bring it up himself," Elek said.

"If there was a statement coming out today or tomorrow saying Rowett had been shown the door, I'd be absolutely flabbergasted.

"But the way Rowett was talking, it didn't really sound like he would be."

Listen to The Dub podcast in full on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United head coach Gary Rowett says he is frustrated with his side's 2-1 loss at West Bromwich Albion.

Oxford took the lead early in the second half but the baggies came back to claim all three points as Oxford's gap to the relegation zone was cut to three points.

"I'm incredibly frustrated because that's been symptomatic of our performances this season in as much as we do a lot to get back in the game when the game's not perfect, but the games' never going to be perfect coming away from home to West Bromwich Albion," told BBC Radio Oxford.

"I thought we started a little bit slowly, allowed them to pin us in, but I didn't think we looked in too much trouble, I thought we blocked shots and we had to defend, but I can't remember too many big, big chances that they created.

"I had to remind our players that we're in a good position, we just have to step it up a little bit and I thought we kind of did at the start of the second half, we ended up getting a very good goal.

"But we lasted two minutes maybe and that's been the frustration, we just keep conceding very, very soft goals and keep conceding goals that I think we shouldn't concede.

"When you do that you don't really give yourself a good chance to win games."

Oxford United boss Gary Rowett has confirmed that right-back Hidde ter Avest is likely to miss out until after the international break.

The Dutchman has not featured for the side since playing 90 minutes in their 2-2 draw with Coventry City in August.

"Hidde has had a couple of little minor setbacks that have made it so it's difficult for him to be available," Rowett told BBC Radio Oxford.

"He was close to potentially being available for last Saturday, had to take a step back and therefore is probably in the same position for this Saturday.

"Hopefully over the international break, we can get enough training into him. When you look at those players we are down, we are down to some positions where we've only got one player.

"Maybe I might have to turn one of our forwards into an attacking full-back, that might solve our problems. We've got plenty of those."

Oxford next face a floundering West Bromwich Albion side at the Hawthorns on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Listen to the full interview with Rowett and more Oxford United content on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Opta

West Bromwich Albion will seek to get back on track as they welcome struggling Oxford United to The Hawthorns on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Baggies have slipped to 15h in the Championship off the back of one point from their past four games, though all three defeats came on the road.

Ryan Mason's men are unbeaten in their past three games at home, but haven't scored in 326 minutes, since Isaac Price's opener at Watford on 22 October, and were stung by a stoppage-time 1-0 defeat at Charlton on Tuesday night.

After picking up four points from their previous two games the U's were beaten 3-0 at home by Stoke the same night and lie six places and five points below Albion, four points above the drop-zone.

• West Brom have only lost one of their 12 home games against Oxford in league competition (W9 D2), with that only defeat coming in October 1997 in a second tier meeting (2-1 to the visitors).

• Oxford boss Gary Rowett is winless in his past three league meetings with West Brom (D2 L1), while seeing his sides fail to score in all three matches (two 0-0 draws with Millwall and a 0-2 defeat with Oxford in this fixture last season).

• West Brom have gone three Championship matches without a goal – they've not gone more league games without scoring since a run of five in January/February 2022.

• Oxford have won two of their past five away league games (D1 L2), as many as in their previous 25 combined (D9 L14). The U's last recorded consecutive away victories in the second tier back in November 1998 under Malcolm Shotton.

• Only Coventry (19) and Bristol City (13) have scored more first half goals in the Championship than Oxford this season (12). However, the Us have netted a division-low three goals after half-time.

Oxford United midfielder Cameron Brannagan says they can't expect to just turn up and win games, after a 3-0 defeat by Stoke City at the Kassam Stadium.

Two goals from midfielder Lewis Baker and a strike from the returning Steven N'Zonzi led the Potters to an emphatic victory.

Brannagan told BBC Radio Oxford the U's performance was "nowhere near good enough".

"We didn't lay a glove on them to be honest, it was nowhere near our standards," he said.

"We're not good enough to just turn up and win games. We addressed that in there and we need to be better on Saturday [at West Brom] because that was nowhere near good enough."

Oxford went into the game off the back of a win at Sheffield Wednesday and a draw against high-flying Millwall but were unable to match Stoke, who climbed into an automatic promotion spot following the win.

"You come away from a good result and we should have a bit of edge about us and I feel like we didn't tonight, that's the frustrating thing.

"They were miles better than us all over the pitch. It's the simple things like matching their efforts and picking up the second balls and being aggressive with certain things.

"I just felt like they were best at everything tonight and that's not us. We can't just amble into games thinking that we're going to win because we're not good enough to do that."

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United manager Gary Rowett said his team's display in the 3-0 home defeat by Stoke City was as bad as any since he became manager last December.

Rowett told BBC Radio Oxford: "That's probably as poor a performance we have had, overall, since I've been here, which is disappointing on the back of finishing the way we did against Millwall.

"Early on we should have been a goal to the good. Greg [Leigh] gets a brilliant chance and maybe just mistimes his jump from a yard out when it hits him in the face and goes a yard wide.

"Their first was a poor goal to concede, the second was a set-piece where we let Nzonzi run off us for a good finish and the third came just at the start of the second half when we had changed things tactically in the hope of giving ourselves a chance.

"It summed up the evening really, in that we can't get going, and we petered out as well, not showing the relevant fight late in the game."

Oxford United host Stoke City tonight (19:45 GMT) as they look to stop the Potters pushing their way into the automatic promotion spots.

Oxford didn't register their first league win until September 21. Since then, they have taken their win tally up to three games for the season. However, the U's only managed to scrape a draw last time out against Millwall, with an added-time equaliser.

Stoke now sit just one point behind Middlesbrough in the table, as they aim to get back into the top two.

The Potters face Oxford following back-to-back wins, which featured a 5-1 thrashing of Bristol City.

• Oxford United have never lost a home game in the Football League against Stoke City in eight previous meetings (W6 D2), only facing Ipswich Town more often on home turf without losing (P12 W5 D7).

• Stoke City have won only one of their last eight league games against Oxford United (D4 L3), a 4-0 home win in September 2000 in the third tier.

• Oxford United are winless in their last six midweek (Tue/Wed/Thu) league games (D2 L4), since a 3-2 home win against Luton Town in January.

• Stoke beat Portsmouth 1-0 at Fratton Park in their final game of October but the Potters haven't won back-to-back away games without conceding in the Championship since December 2021/January 2022 (2-0 v QPR and Hull City).

• This will be ninth meeting between Oxford manager Gary Rowett and Stoke manager Mark Robins in the Football League, with both winning three of the previous eight (D2).