Oxford United boss Mark Wright has had talks with chairman Firoz Kassam about trying to bring in a midfielder.

Wright has been after a striker on loan to cover for Andy Scott, but he also feels the side is a midfielder short of being successful.

Mark WrightThe U's lost 2-0 at Northampton last night in the first round of the LDV Vans Trophy.

Wright put out a strong side, with only Paul Moody and Paul Tait missing.

However, he dropped skipper Martin Thomas to the bench and handed the captain's armband back to Phil Bolland.

Thomas, who was sent off last Saturday for allegedly head-butting the Lincoln goalkeeper Alan Marriott, is the player whose place seems most at risk.

But Dean Whitehead too has been going through a difficult spell.

Whitehead and Sam Ricketts were partly to blame for the Northampton goals, scored just before half-time.

Encouraging for United, however, were the performances of Paul Powell and Chris Hackett, who came on as second-half substitutes. Hackett, making his first appearance of the season, almost scored with a header.

"I'm disappointed for the players because once again, I felt we didn't deserve to lose," Wright said. "There were a lot of chances for us in and around the box.

"I thought we were evenly matched and a lot of our players played very well. Dave Savage was outstanding.

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