Oxford United

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Northern Ireland defenders Daniel Ballard and Brodie Spencer have been ruled out of the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers away to Luxembourg and Germany.

Sunderland's Ballard was forced off in the first half of his side's 2-0 loss against Burnley on Saturday, while Spencer was injured in Oxford United's 6-0 Carabao Cup defeat against Brighton on Wednesday.

It is a further blow for boss Michael O'Neill, who is already without goalkeepers Pierce Charles and Conor Hazard as well as defender Ciaron Brown and midfielder Jordan Thompson through injury.

O'Neill has called up uncapped trio Kofi Balmer, Ryan Johnson and Jamie McDonnell as replacements and further cover.

Motherwell defender Balmer, 24, has made 20 appearances for Northern Ireland's Under-21 side and been called up to the senior squad on six occasions without making an appearance.

Johnson, a 28-year-old centre-back at League One AFC Wimbledon, receives his first senior call after featuring for Northern Ireland at under-21 level.

Midfielder McDonnell is currently on loan at League One side Mansfield Town from Premier League side Nottingham Forest, who took the 21-year-old from Irish Premiership side Glentoran in 2020.

He has represented his country at under-17 and under-21 level.

Northern Ireland begin their World Cup qualifying campaign in Luxembourg on Thursday, 4 September.

They travel to Cologne to take on Germany in their second Group A game on Sunday, 7 September.

Oxford United will be hoping to bounce back from a humiliating 6-0 home defeat to Premier League side Brighton in the EFL Cup, with Gary Rowett's side also searching for their first league point of the season following three defeats so far.

Frank Lampard's Coventry City side come into the game with plenty of confidence after their 7-1 thrashing of Queens Park Rangers last weekend, despite being knocked out of the EFL Cup by Millwall in the week.

• Oxford United have won just four of their 13 EFL games against Coventry City (D1 L8), though three of those victories have come on home soil.

• Coventry City have won their past two league games against Oxford United, and will be looking to win three in succession in the EFL for the first time.

• Oxford have averaged just 35% of possession across their opening three Championship matches so far this season – the lowest share of any side in the competition.

• As well as scoring the most goals in the Championship so far this season (12), Coventry also top the charts for most shots (57), most shots on target (21) and most touches inside the opposition's penalty area (114). Across England's top four tiers this season, Coventry's Milan van Ewijk has provided the most assists amongst defenders (3), whilst he's now recorded five across his last five appearances for the Sky Blues, including last season's play-offs.

"He made a brave, bold decision to drop the club captain. In Elliott Moore's last five or six years has he ever not started a game when he's available?"

"To me that's Gary Rowett stamping his authority on things because I'm sure that would've raised some eyebrows externally but maybe even internally as well."

Robyn Cowen, Ben Purkiss and George Elek discuss Oxford boss Gary Rowett's shock decision to drop club captain Elliott Moore to the bench for Saturday's 1-0 loss at Birmingham City.

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Oxford United head coach Gary Rowett lamented his side's ineffectiveness in front of goal after their 1-0 loss at Birmingham City.

The U's failed to respond to Paik Seung-ho's first-half finish and only managed six attempts at goal compared to Birmingham's 16.

"I thought actually first half we held our position really, really well," Rowett told BBC Radio Oxford.

"We were quite aggressive in the way that we played. We started to show a little bit more composure and bravery on the ball and actually got in some really good positions.

"I think the challenge in these games and the challenge we found last season as well, is you can have a 30 minute spell against these teams where you actually keep them at bay, get in some really good positions.

"And just as that little bit of fatigue starts creeping in, you start giving the ball away on transition, you just start maybe not getting out quite as quickly and aggressively."

Birmingham City aim to keep their unbeaten run going when they host Oxford United on Saturday (15:00 BST), as striker Jay Stansfield looks to score for the third consecutive game.

The U's are chasing their first win of the season having been narrowly beaten 1-0 by Portsmouth and 3-2 by Hull City in their opening Championship fixtures.

• This will be the first time that Birmingham City and Oxford United have met in the league since December 1998, which was a 7-1 victory for the Blues.

• Oxford United won their last away league game against Birmingham City 1-0 in November 1998, a result which ended a prior 10-match winless streak at St Andrew's between September 1970 and October 1997 (D6 L4).

• Birmingham are unbeaten across their last 26 home league games since a 1-0 defeat to Cardiff City in April 2024 (W21 D5), scoring 52 goals in that time and conceding only 12.

• Oxford United could lose their opening three matches of a league season for the first time since 2018-19.

• Oxford United have failed to win any of their last seven league games against newly promoted opposition (D5 L2), since a 3-1 away victory over Carlisle United in League One in January 2024.

Oxford United look to have won the race to sign Rangers defender Ben Davies on loan with Birmingham City and QPR also rumoured to have been interested. (The 72), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip column here.

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Oxford United boss Gary Rowett has decisions to make about how to integrate three key players returning from injury into the team's busy schedule.

Slovenian forward Nik Prelec, Belgian midfielder Brian De Keersmaecker and Polish wide-man Przemyslaw Placheta are nearly ready to appear for the first time this season.

Speaking to BBC Radio Oxford ahead of Saturday's trip to his old club Birmingham City (15:00 BST), he said: "All three of those for different reasons are very close to being available.

"It's very difficult. If you start with three players who haven't played for a while then you run the risk of having to make three changes pretty early in the second half, potentially. We'll try and make good decisions.

"We have got a Saturday game, a Wednesday game (at home to Brighton and Hove Albion in the EFL Cup) and a Saturday game (at home to Coventry City). So you could save some for Wednesday, but if you play them a lot of minutes they might struggle to be available for the Saturday.

"I've got to balance that off and have a think."

Rowett also confirmed that the U's Player of the Year Ciaron Brown will not be rushed back from a knee injury, which led to him missing the final five games of last season, and he could remain sidelined until October.

"Browny is a little bit further away, more likely to be closer to the second international break," Rowett added.

"If we rush him back after being out for quite a long time, we run the risk of that being another injury. So we have to be sensible."

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Will Lankshear scored his first EFL goal in Oxford United's 3-2 loss at Hull City on Sunday, but it was a bittersweet moment for the striker.

The on-loan Tottenham Hotspur forward scored the U's first equaliser at the MKM Stadium before they were eventually beaten by a 93rd-minute Oli McBurnie strike.

"I need to keep building and just want to help the team win now," the 20-year-old told BBC Radio Oxford.

"I won't be settling on just this one, and want to score as many as I can for this club. I'm really enjoying my time so far and even in the short amount of time I've played I feel I've come on massively."

Lankshear spent the final three months of last season on loan at West Bromwich Albion where he failed to score in four starts, and he has been on the losing side in both of Oxford's Championship games this season, with Sunday's defeat preceded by a 1-0 home reverse to Portsmouth.

"It was gutting to lose, but the positive is we stuck in there and fought - we've just got to use that and keep going forward," he said.

"We're confident we can get points in this league, and [we] have a strong squad, so I have no doubt we'll come from back from this.''

Oxford return to Championship action on Saturday, 23 August at home to Birmingham City (15:00 BST).

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Oxford United manager Gary Rowett spoke to BBC Radio Oxford after the 3-2 defeat at Hull City

"We changed the shape several times just to try and give ourselves a little bit more of a foothold," he said.

"Of course they start and score a goal early, which is very disappointing from our perspective, and then to come in at half-time - I thought we rode our luck really first half.

"We ended up scoring two very good goals, both from set-pieces, but ultimately we probably should have been a couple more goals down because it was far too easy for them to open us up and create chances.

"[We] Switched to a five [at the back in the] second half to give us a bit of grip in the game defensively.

"We didn't get up the pitch enough, but I don't think they had many big chances. I thought we looked quite solid. You expect to see the game out."

Jerome Sale
BBC Radio Oxford's Oxford United commentator

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It is not built yet and there are hurdles still to negotiate, but the decision by Cherwell District Council to grant planning permission for Oxford United's new stadium at The Triangle is a seismic moment.

The odds of it being built have now tipped in the club's favour - for they no longer have the burden of proof to contend with.

Over the past two and half years, they have had to demonstrate that the site was viable, and that they had a plan for traffic and travel and the ecology of the site.

Often they have been trying to prove a negative – that there would NOT be problems. It has been United that have had to pay handsomely to do so. Now that burden is on the shoulders of those who will still seek to derail it.

The 14-1 vote in the planning committee was - after an exhaustive four-and-a-half hour, single issue meeting - emphatic. Even opponents concede that the mood music from central government suggests that it will be signed off by the secretary of state.

The granting of planning permission triggers a further one-year extension to the license agreement at the Kassam Stadium (pictured) – 2028 is now the hard deadline to move out, but the new stadium does not just build itself.

Funds of more than £100m need to be raised – a very significant financial challenge to a club that all the while has to fight tooth and nail to sustain its Championship status.

So does it happen? Oxford supporters have known for ever that the club owning its own stadium is key to its sustainability. They have put their collective shoulders to the wheel, behind the know-how of its board, its staff, and the financial investment of its owners.

Millions of pounds have been ploughed into the planning process, exactly because a new stadium is so vital to the club's future.

I am reminded of that Oxford United banner at Wembley last year: "We haven't come this far to only come this far."

Right now, finally, the club has wrested back control of its own destiny.

Two sides seeking their first win go head-to-head at the MKM Stadium on Sunday (15:00 BST) as Oxford United head to Hull City.

Sergej Jakirovic's Tigers picked up a battling point from a stalemate at Coventry on the opening day, but the U's went down 1-0 at home to Portsmouth in their first game.

• Hull City are unbeaten across their past nine home league games against Oxford United (W6 D3), winning each of their last three in succession whilst netting 2+ goals in each.

• Oxford United have only won one of their past five Football League games against Hull City (D1 L3); a 1-0 victory at home in November last season.

• Hull have lost their opening home game of a league season in just two of the prior 13 seasons (W9 D2), a run which has seen them concede just 14 goals in total.

• Oxford last lost each of their opening two league games of a season back in 2020-21, though have avoided that fate in each of their last six campaigns in the second tier.

• Last season in the Championship, only relegated Plymouth (48) attempted fewer shots on target on the road than Oxford (61), with the U's also recording the second-fewest touches in the opposition's penalty area (306).