In his second match as Torquay United manager, Chris Hargreaves is set to face one of his former clubs, Oxford United, and one of his former managers- Chris Wilder.
The Gulls travel to the Kassam Stadium on Saturday in the match that will see Hargreaves cross swords- in managerial terms- with Wilder, who signed him for the U's in January 2010; a move which saw him leave Plainmoor after two-and-a-half-years, during which time he had helped inspire Torquay to promotion from the Conference.
Prior to his arrival in south Devon, Hargreaves had spent two years at the Kassam Stadium between 2005 and 2007. There was an element of unfinished business involved in his return to the U's as they had been relegated from the Football League, and missed out on promotion from the Conference by losing to Exeter City on penalties.
Pleasingly during Hargreaves' second stint, Oxford clinched their return to League Two with a Play-Off final victory over York City. Although he didn't play in the final, his experience of winning promotion with the Gulls a year earlier still played a crucial part in the U's success.
As well as facing one of his former managers, Hargreaves will also be up against one of his former Torquay midfield colleagues in the form of Nicky Wroe, who recently joined Oxford on loan from his current club Preston North End.
The Gulls will be particularly keen to return to action after last week's fixture with Northampton Town was postponed, and they will also be eager to take advantage of the U's strangely inconsistent home form, which reads: played 14, won four, drawn five and lost five.
This record is completely at odds with their away record, which makes them the only side yet to lose a league fixture away from home- including a 3-1 win over Torquay at Plainmoor on August 17th 2013.
Footnote: Following Graham Turner's departure from Shrewsbury Town earlier this week, Chris Wilder is the only current Football League manager who Chris Hargreaves played under during his career. The Gulls' boss served under Turner whilst he was at Hereford United between 1996 and 1998.
