KARL Robinson is under no illusion that tonight’s Emirates FA Cup first round tie at Woking has the potential to be a real banana skin for Oxford United.
Woking are fourth in Vanarama National League, unbeaten in six matches.
The Surrey outfit have won their last four games, keeping clean sheets in all of them.
The fixture between the two sides was initially due to take place on November 6, but was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
The rearranged tie was then pushed back 24 hours, after a request from the FA and its broadcast partners.
This was to allow the fixture to be broadcast overseas, although it won’t be available in the UK.
“We will take control of that from a medical team, but totally guided all along the journey with Swansea.”
— Oxford Mail OUFC (@OxfordMailOUFC) November 15, 2022
Karl Robinson says Kyle Joseph is set to stay with #oufc while he recovers from injuryhttps://t.co/6wwyeOUqBR pic.twitter.com/Tgxa97Za50
Robinson said: “If you were to pick the most in-form team in the Conference right now, that is Woking.
“They’ve got a good manager, some good players with league experience.
“It’s a difficult place to go and play, we know we’re going to have to cope with so much that’s going to be thrown at us.
“If you’re looking for a shock, there’s a reason why our game was on the Sunday and there’s another reason why it’s been moved to a Wednesday.
“It’s not just because they think we’ll have a little walkover, everyone thinks Woking are going to win and people want to see that, that’s what they want to sell.
“We’ve got to make sure we do our job, we have complete respect for Woking.
“I don’t think anybody can go into the game with any qualms over the quality of the opposition.
“They’re certainly on form and seem very strong as a unit, we’re under no illusions how hard it’s going to be.”
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Preparing to face a non-league side comes with different challenges, including gaining knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses.
Robinson though said advancements in the game have made it easier to scout lower league opponents.
“In years gone by, it would’ve been so much more difficult but the level of the Conference now is so high, and the video footage you can get is so much more accessible, so you’re less in the dark in some ways,” he said.
“We can send someone to watch them, we can download games and find some familiar traits within their set-up, just like they can find the same with ourselves.”
In preparing for the first round clash, Robinson said the U’s have trained using two different sides.
He said: “The one thing you don’t have to balance out is the result, you want to win.
“But then the balancing out is the next game, fluidity, winning formulas, injury prevention, where players are at.
“We’ve picked two teams just to see which seemed to us the most fluent up against their shape, they go from a diamond to a 4-4-2.
“We’ve done a little bit of work on that, to try and find a formula.”
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