TOMORROW will be the first competitive test for one of Karl Robinson’s subtle changes made over the summer.

Eagle-eyed supporters will spot the boundary of the technical areas no longer juts out on to the grass.

That is to accommodate a wider playing surface at the Kassam Stadium.

Oxford United’s home turf has been widened by 1.5 metres on either side, taking the total from 67 to 70.

Robinson believes the change will assist his side play expansive football.

The United boss said: “It’s wider and it will hopefully propel us into what we want to do.

“There’s so many things going on behind the scenes that we’re trying to achieve which people maybe don’t see all the time.

“But we’re really coming together and we’re a better club now than what we were at the end of the season.

“We’ll be fitter and hopefully move the ball around a bit more and we’ll be a little bit more competitive.

“It’s almost to the maximum, it’s not massively different.”

The change reverses the move requested by former head coach Michael Appleton in 2015.

He felt the width of the pitch had hampered United in his first season, with visiting sides counter-attacking into the extra space.