Forest Green could teach injury-hit Oxford United a lesson

First round
7.45pm Tuesday

Injury-ravaged Oxford United lifted themselves out of the Sky Bet League One relegation zone with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Gillingham on Saturday but may not have much left in the tank for their tricky FA Cup first-round replay at Forest Green.

Nine U's players were unavailable at the weekend and winger Ricky Holmes played with a back injury, lasting 55 minutes before he was substituted.

Oxford could be boosted by the return of winger Gavin Whyte, who has returned from international duty with Northern Ireland, but manager Karl Robinson will be short of options and has to bear in mind Saturday's key league fixture away to fellow strugglers Bradford.

Forest Green's squad is far healthier and they should have plenty of belief having created the better chances in the 0-0 draw at the Kassam Stadium ten days ago.

Rovers are tenth in Sky Bet League Two, having made significant improvements to the group which battled relegation last season, and will be looking to respond after losing 1-0 at home to Morecambe on Saturday.

It was a game Forest Green dominated – they won the shot count 19-7 – but Rovers may have better fortune against Oxford and look overpriced to win inside normal time.

League Two may also trump League One at the Valley where Charlton take on Mansfield.

Charlton may feel they accomplished the hard part by coming from behind to draw 1-1 at Field Mill in the first encounter but they are still without several key players with defender Lewis Page, midfielders Josh Cullen, Ben Reeves and Jake Forster-Caskey and striker Igor Vetokele all set to miss out because of injury.

Mansfield have defeated a couple of third-tier sides this season, winning 6-1 at home to Accrington in the EFL Cup and 3-2 at home to Scunthorpe in the EFL Trophy.

They stretched their unbeaten sequence to 14 with a 1-0 success at home to Port Vale on Saturday and should not be discounted against the under-strength Addicks.

Recommendations
Forest Green
1pt 19-10 bet365
Mansfield
1pt 15-4 bet365

Bet on these matches at Soccerbase.com

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