OXFORD United will train at two different prestigious sites this week as they look to hit the ground running in Sky Bet League One on Saturday.

Delays beyond the U’s control mean their new headquarters near Horspath is not ready.

While the sports complex has now been connected to the water network, the hold-up has had knock-on effects elsewhere in the project.

The first team have had to improvise since returning from their camp in Ireland, spending time at Abingdon School and Bisham Abbey.

The latter, at the National Sports Centre on the banks of the River Thames near Marlow, will again be their home today and tomorrow.

After having Wednesday off, the plan is to fine-tune the preparations for Saturday’s season-opener at Barnsley with a two-day stay at St George’s Park – the FA’s national football centre in Staffordshire.

U’s boss Karl Robinson said: “We’ll try to stay over.

"We’ve got nowhere to train, so we might as well try to stay there.

“To be fair to the club, they’ve said we can go and do that.

“But we don’t have a home at the moment, so we’ll be at Bisham Abbey for two days and then St George’s Park for two days.”

The situation is far from ideal, but United hope the quality of the facilities will make up for the disruption.

Robinson’s mood will also be helped by movement in the transfer market, with three more deals in the pipeline.

United are desperate for a striker to ease the burden on Jon Obika and they are among the clubs interested in signing Sam Smith on loan.

There had been concerns the 20-year-old’s form in pre-season might have made Reading think again about letting him go.

But there was good news over the weekend, although it is reliant on a striker joining the Royals first.

Talking about Smith on Saturday, manager Paul Clement told the Reading Chronicle: “It’s a good possibility he’ll go out on loan.

“He’s had a good pre-season and worked hard, he’s scored a couple of goals.

“But it’s time for him to go and play regular football now and show that he can make the step-up to this level and play regularly.”

A FREE-KICK from Albie Hopkins gave Oxford United’s under 23 side an impressive 1-0 win against their Brentford counterparts at Court Place Farm on Saturday.