THE return of captain Scott Davies for tomorrow’s trip to Margate will be a big boost for Oxford City, according to general manager Justin Merritt.

Four weeks have passed since the City skipper’s last outing, when he was sent off in the Vanarama National League South goalless draw at home to Weston-super-Mare.

But Davies has still made his influence felt at the club.

“He’s been to every game and every training session – he even travelled to watch the youth team,” Merritt said.

“That shows what kind of captain he is.

“It’s been a long time for him and he’s certainly been frustrated to miss out.”

However, Davies could face a wait to force his way back into the City side.

In his absence, City have won their last two matches and, with a full squad to choose from, Merritt faces a difficult selection decision.

He said: “We’ve kept the same team for our last two games and it’s worked.

“But there are still a few things we can work on.

“Watching the video of last week’s match, we’ve not retained possession as well as I would have liked.

“We gave the ball away much too cheaply and against better teams you will be punished for that.”

But after picking up back-to-back wins for the first time this season, away to Hampton & Richmond Borough and then at home to Bishop’s Stortford last weekend, City travel to the Kent coast tomorrow with a new sense of confidence.

“We’ve broken our hoodoo of being unable to win two in a row, so that’s a big relief for us,” Merritt said.

“It’s good to get that behind us and hopefully we can push on now.”

TOMORROW’S SQUAD

Oxford City (v Margate, away): from Belford, Grant, Poku, Ashby, Henderson, Cundy, Davies, Fleet, Ofosu, Ngathe, Winters, Giles, Fondop, MacAuley, Roberts, Isaac, Louis.