OXFORD City have recharged their batteries and are raring to return to action at St Albans City, according to Andy Ballard.

City were without a game last weekend as their scheduled opponents Dorking were in FA Trophy action, meaning tomorrow’s Vanarama National League South clash is their first game since the 1-0 victory at Slough Town on February 1.

Although Ballard admitted he would have been keen to keep the momentum going after beating the high-fliers, the interim joint manager welcomed the time off.

He said: “The lads were buzzing after the Slough win, and ideally you want to get another game quickly to keep that momentum going.

“But I guess if you go and lose it, you then wish you had some time off, so it’s a tricky one.

“We’ve had a good rest up and done some important training and the guys are raring to go.”

St Albans were rock bottom when they visited Court Place Farm earlier in the season, but drew 3-3 despite going behind three times.

The result kick-started a change in fortunes for the Hertfordshire side and they are now 19th, just six points behind 12th-placed City.

They enjoyed an outstanding 3-0 win at Bath City last weekend and Ballard is wary of the hosts’ threat.

He said: “They’ve picked up considerably since that draw against us.

“They were really struggling then, but they’re out of the relegation zone now and had a fantastic result at Bath, so they will be full of confidence.”

City have no injury concerns, so Ballard names a full-strength squad.

He said: “Craig King was obviously coming back from an injury at Slough, and be didn’t have an awful lot to do to be fair, but I guess an extra week of rest for him will have done him some good.

“We’ve got a busy month ahead now, which is good, and hopefully we can string some results together.

“We’re certainly not looking at a mid-table finish – our aim is to finish as high as we can.”

Oxford City (v St Albans City, away): from King, Jones, Jefford, Oastler, Wiltshire, Fleet, Ashby, McEachran, Berkoe, Lofthouse, Gordon, Moore-Azille, Benyon, Owusu, George.