Preview: Oxford United vs. Derby County - prediction, team news, lineups

Two sides vying for promotion will face off when Oxford United welcome Derby County to the Kassam Stadium for Friday's League One contest.

Derby are currently sitting in fourth position in the standings, while the U's are one place behind in fifth spot due to their poorer goal difference.

Match preview

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Oxford United are just two points adrift of the automatic promotion places after they fought back from a goal down to claim a dramatic 2-1 victory over Cambridge United on Boxing Day.

Tyler Goodrham found the net in the opening stages of the second period to cancel out Jordan Cousins's first-half opener, before Ciaron Brown completed the turnaround in the fifth minute of stoppage time to snatch all three points for his side.

After claiming a third consecutive home win, Oxford are now unbeaten in 11 competitive home matches since losing 1-0 to MK Dons in the EFL Trophy in September.

The U's have lost just one of their 11 home league games this season, ensuring that they head into Friday's tricky fixture in a confident mood.

They can also draw confidence from the fact they have already beaten Derby this season after a Mark Harris brace proved enough to secure a narrow 2-1 victory in August's reverse fixture.

While Oxford have proven to be a tough team to beat at the Kassam Stadium, Derby will certainly fancy their chances of claiming all three points after winning seven of their last eight league matches (D1).

In their most recent outing, Curtis Nelson's first-half effort proved enough to guide the Rams to a narrow 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day.

As a result of their success at the DW Stadium, Derby have won three consecutive away league matches without conceding, demonstrating why they currently boast the best defensive record in the division.

Impressively, the Rams have now picked up a total of 22 points from their 11 away league games – only Barnsley and Portsmouth boast a better record on the road.

Although they lost out to Oxford in the reverse fixture, Derby will have fond memories of their most recent trip to the Kassam Stadium in March when a Louie Sibley brace helped them record a 3-2 victory.

Team News

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Oxford remain without the services of Marcus Browne, Kyle Edwards, Greg Leigh, Stephan Negru and Sam Long due to their respective injury issues.

Buckingham will be hoping that Billy Bodin and Josh Murphy can play some part in Friday's contest after deciding against risking the pair against Cambridge.

If neither of the pair are fit to start, Des Buckingham could decide to stick with the same XI that started the Boxing Day victory.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon the injured quartet of Korey Smith, Conor Washington, Martyn Waghorn and Jake Rooney.

After seeing his side get the better of Wigan, Derby boss Paul Warne could be tempted to name an unchanged starting lineup.

Striker James Collins will provide one of Derby's main goal threats after scoring eight times in 22 league appearances this season.

Oxford United possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Stevens, Moore, Brown, Bennett; McGuane, Brannagan, Mills, Rodrigues, Goodrham; Harris

Derby County possible starting lineup:

Wildsmith; Nyambe, Nelson, Cashin, Forsyth; Wilson, Bird, Hourihane, Barkhuizen; Mendez-Laing, Collins

We say: Oxford United 1-1 Derby County

Derby may have won each of their last three away league games, but we think that they will have to settle for a point against an Oxford side that are unbeaten in eight home matches (W5, D3).

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