Twelve months ago, Oxford United set a Conference record by pulling in 11,065 for their Boxing Day match against Woking.

Next Wednesday, the 2007 Boxing Day gate is likely to be just over half that.

United's ticket office said yesterday it was hard to predict exactly how many would come along to watch the U's take on Crawley Town.

But advance ticket sales had been much better than other games, as is customary.

It looks set to be a gate of around 5,500-6,000, which would still put it in with a shout of being the best of the season.

That stands at 5,811 who came to see the Aldershot Town game on September 15.

Crawley have lost their best player in Cameroonian striker Guy Madjo. He caught the eye when he played for Stafford Rangers against Oxford last season.

Madjo was Crawley's top scorer with ten goals when he was sold to Coca-Cola League One Cheltenham Town in November for what was described by the Sussex outfit as "a substantial sum".

Madjo's departure from Crawley has opened the door to 22-year-old Brazilian Magno Vieira.

Vieira had been left out of the side earlier in the season, but he has come in and made quite an impact, scoring four goals in the last four games - two against Farsley Celtic, one in the 3-2 defeat against Torquay, and the 65th-minute winner against Conference South side Bromley in the FA Trophy first round last weekend.

Crawley manager Steve Evans, the ex-Boston United boss, is trying to put his stamp on the team and has got rid of several of the club's higher wage-earners.

He has an ambitious three-year plan to get Crawley Town up into the Football League.

But it certainly won't happen this season. They currently lie 16th in the table.

Two Crawley players definitely out of the Boxing Day fixture at the Kassam Stadium are long-serving winger Tony Scully, who has just been released, and Bradley Thomas, who has a broken leg.