[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

The winless streak of three which carried us into October was a reality check which left us in playoff limbo during the break, just two points off top spot but also just two points from slipping into the mid-table morass. Notwithstanding Brian Clough's evergreen observation about the value of the league table before the month of bonfires and poppies, we do need to try and get back on track during the coming week on the road.

Saturday's early kickoff will be a novelty in itself: the first league encounter of the 21st century between Albion and Oxford United, who last met at this level with Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time" topping the charts, and James Quinn and Enzo Maresca hitting the net, on 6th March 1999. For our last (ever) journey to the Manor Ground you have to take the DeLorean back a little further to September 1998, when the Yellows were still enjoying a few years of bogey status over us; aside from a League Cup tie in 2014 that we scraped through on penalties, we haven't really had chance to fully exorcise that ghost of our Nineties mediocrity, and this inaugural trip to the Kassam Stadium - which could also end up being our final visit, as they apparently plan to cart their arses to yet another venue in a couple of years - will be an opportunity to put that right. Though to their credit as a team promoted through the playoffs, United are ticking over nicely in 10th as things stand, and treading water over the last month with a string of draws; Albion, meanwhile, only have to point Josh Maja towards the opposition goal away from home and watch him go, as his four goals in four consecutive appearances on the road have been a key part of our success so far.

A trip to Ewood Park looms on the horizon on Wednesday night, so together these fixtures are a decent indicator of where we stand and how things are liable to unfold in the coming weeks. I'd take two points from these two with a bit of a grumble, settle for three more happily, but if we've still got upward ambitions for this season, then we have to push for four or more.