Oxford City have drafted in Turkish goalkeeper Ali Aksoy for tomorrow’s trip to Tamworth in Vanarama Conference North, writes MATTHEW BRUCE.

With both Mark Scott and Salva de la Cruz serving suspensions for recent red cards, general manager Justin Merritt has been forced to bring in the 24-year-old as a replacement for one game only.

A product of the Arsenal youth team, former AFC Wimbledon man Aksoy recently returned from a spell in Turkey with Orduspor and has been training with West Ham.

Merritt admitted he was relieved at being able to find a worthy replacement.

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“He’s of the understanding that it will be just for the one game,” said Merrit.

“It’s not easy to find someone who’s happy to come in for just one game, but hopefully it will work out and he will do well and everyone will be happy.”

City make the trip to Staffordshire tomorrow looking to continue a three-match winning run in the league which began with a 1-0 victory at home to Tamworth.

But Merritt is anticipating a much sterner test this time as the hosts look for revenge.

He said: “We outplayed them last time with ten men, but I think when they came to us and they saw the pitch and the surroundings they just weren’t up for it.

“This weekend there are going to be 1,000 people there and they’re going to be desperate to get a result.

“There’s going to be a big crowd and a great atmosphere, but if we want to be successful that’s the sort of environment we need to thrive in.

“They’ll be better than when we played them at home, but we shouldn’t have fear of any sides.

“We know we can compete against everyone.”

City find themselves just two points off the play-off positions with 13 games to go and with seven of those coming against sides higher in the table, Merritt is keen to avoid letting standards drop.

“Coming into the business end of the season we still have to play the top teams,” he said.

“Every game now is a mini cup final because if we lose a few, we could find ourselves back in mid-table.

“But it’s great to have something to play for at this point in the season.”

Darren Mullings remains out with a hip problem, but is City’s only injury concern.

TOMORROW’S SQUAD Oxford City (v Tamworth, away): from Aksoy, Coulson, Stonehouse, Fofana, Henderson, Lapoujade, Jackson, Pond, Yussuf, Rodriguez, Benjamin, Winters, Santiago, Wilson, Barcelos, Del Alamo.