Manager previews tonight's home match

Team News

There was a scare yesterday when eight first team players felt ill during training and some suffered sickness and diarrhoea.

They were seen by the club doctor yesterday afternoon but have reported no further ill effects today and Jimmy Quinn should have a full squad to select from, apart from Daniel Chillingworth (ankle), Mark Convery (hamstring) and Stephen Reed, who strained a thigh muscle during Thursday's win against Oxford.

If everyone is fit to start, the only change Quinn is planning to the team that won on Thursday is a recall for captain Danny Brown, who missed out through illness, in place of Reed.

"A few of the lads haven't been feeling brilliant over the last 3-4 weeks and we thought last week it might be the water bottles, but I think it's just one of these bugs that does the rounds and everyone gets it sooner or later," commented Quinn.

"I'm glad everyone is saying they're fit and raring to go, and the whole squad is coming in to train this afternoon so we'll have a full body count and we'll know more then. It's always a bit worrying when things like this happen, but I don't want any excuses.

"We're fit and we have to concentrate on the job in hand. They can have plenty of rest after the game."

The Opposition

Following Monday night's 1-1 draw between Exeter City and York City, United can go top of the Blue Square Premier table this evening by beating Farsley Celtic, but Jimmy Quinn is insistent that his players do not take the newly-promoted side for granted nor underestimate them.

"This is a tough game - there are no easy ones in the this league and we can't have the attitude that because we've beaten York and Oxford that we should beat Farsley," he stressed. "You have to earn the right to win games of football.

"I hope we're going to have an exciting season but I've seen Torquay play twice in the last week and for my money they'll be up there with the likes of Oxford.

"The main thing is that I think we can compete on a level with the teams that I think will do well. But we have to beat the Farsleys of this world and it's not going to be easy. We have to be prepared for teams to come to our place and start packing defences and midfield and we'll need to be on tip-top form to combat that."

Quinn was a team-mate at Bradford of Farsley manager Lee Sinnott and he knows he will bring a competitive side: "They haven't got any of the really well-known players in this league, but they don't half work hard for one another.

"They try to pass the ball and they play the game the right way, so it's going to be a difficult game like any other in this league and it would be disrespectful of anyone to assume we can just turn up and win.

"But if we can manage to get the three points, it would be a fantastic result for us to go top of the table."

Tonight's match kicks off at the Abbey Stadium at 7.45pm. Admission prices here.

More Information

Read the news from the Farsley camp and details about their squad and season to date in Chris Vessey's "The Other Side" preview, and if you fancy a bet on our match or any other event this week we have all the odds at AbbeyBet, where all your betting makes money for the U's.

If you can't be at the match, listen to every kick of the game courtesy of Radio Cambridgeshire and see the live stats from our game and goal flashes from around the country via the our fantastic MatchLive Console on U's World.

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