This is Des Buckingham's latest column written exclusively for the Oxford Mail.

We travel up to Blackpool this afternoon and I am sure we will have plenty of fans making a  weekend of it and supporting the team for what should be a really good game of football.

It has been slightly frustrating to only draw the last two matches but we have the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways today, especially with a number of players all returning to fitness at the same time.

It may be easiest to work from back to front when I list the players who are returning.

First, we have Jamie Cumming available again after a slight groin problem.

It was just one of those injuries that could have got a lot worse if he pushed things to far so he missed a couple of games and we are fortunate to have Simon Eastwood ready to step in for exactly those situations.

In defence, Sam Long will be back today after getting a nasty cut to his forehead against Barnsley.

There are medical procedures when you get head injuries and we have followed them to the letter.

It was a little bit frustrating but you cannot take risks and even today Sam will have a protective headband to wear.

The other players are all going to add to our attacking options.

Josh Murphy was enjoying probably his best spell as an Oxford player until he got injured before Christmas.

Billy Bodin is one of our goal threats and such a clever player, and Will Goodwin has just taken a couple of weeks to get right after a groin strain after his signing from Cheltenham Town.

When you add in Tyler Burey, who I thought was excellent on his debut last week, and Jay Matete who has settled in really quickly and we have considerably more options now than over the last few weeks.

That means competition for places, it means a chance to rest players if we feel necessary, and it means a strong bench where we can make positive changes if they are needed.

It may take a couple of games for those returning players to find their stride and match sharpness but when they do it will position our squad to enter the final third of this season strong.

People have asked me this week how I will pick a team when all these players are fit. 

That is every manager’s dream, to have the headache of who to choose as your starting eleven and also promotes healthy competition for places in training each day.

Having these players now available will allow us to approach games in different manners and utilise the full strengths of our team game to game.

One player not involved today is Gatlin O’Donkor who has joined Barnet on loan until the end of the season.

Gats is a really good player and at 19 has a very bright future ahead of him, but with Mark Harris scoring regularly, Will Goodwin fit and Billy Bodin available again we felt it was better for him to go out and play regular football in the National League.

Barnet are a good side and are challenging for a return to the EFL so he is joining at a great time both for them and for his future development.