VANARAMA CONFERENCE NORTH

OXFORD City boss Justin Merritt won’t sacrifice attacking football for an improved defensive showing as his side host Stockport County tonight (7.45), writes MATTHEW BRUCE.

City have scored more goals than all other sides apart from league leaders AFC Fylde, but have conceded almost as many.

However, Merritt says he won’t be sending his team out to stop a Stockport side who have also been scoring freely.

“If we were to set up to be less risky, it would detract from our capability to score goals as we do and we don’t want to change the way we approach games,” he said.

Latest Sport news

“The number of goals conceded is a problem, but we’ve also kept five clean sheets this season so we do have that capability.

“We always set up to win and when you do that it can sometime leave you a bit open at the back.

“That’s just the way it is when you have so much flair in the team.”

Goalkeeper Mark Scott could return to the side after missing the last two matches due to a bruised hip, with his replacement Freddy Hall having endured a tough time.

Merritt said: “Mark’s a good goalkeeper and he’s done extremely well for us this season.

“He’s very young and capable, but there are still plenty of things that he needs to learn.

“Goalkeeping isn’t just about what happens in the penalty area, it’s also about communication and organisation.

“But that’s an area of his game that will improve as he gets older.”

Midfielder Ander Del Alamo will miss out after suffering ankle ligament damage in Saturday’s match at Colwyn Bay.

But defender Adrian Santiago, who also limped off in that game, could be fit to play.

And City are boosted by the return of defender Lee Henderson, who was unavailable on Saturday.

Oxford City: from Scott, Hall, Stonehouse, Pond, Lapoujade, Green, Rodriguez, Barcelos, Mullings, Yussuf, Benjamin, Winters, Wilson, Brown, Santiago, Isaac, Hoban, Jackson, Henderson.

Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.