MALCOLM Shotton admitted for the first time today that he's facing an uphill battle to keep Oxford United competitive in the first division.

His team lacks height, strength and muscle; he has no money to spend on new players; has a squad ravaged by injuries and must be dreading what could happen if he soon loses players through suspension.

And he says the financial position at the club is so dire, United can't even afford to take a player on loan, paying out £1,000 to £2,000 on a month's wages.

Just when Shotton thought the treatment room could hardly get more crowded, he is now set to lose his main (fill-in) striker Matt Murphy.

Murphy pulled a hamstring in the 4-1 defeat at Swindon and is doubtful for tomorrow's game against Ipswich at the Manor.

Shotton is already without Kevin Francis, who is currently at Lilleshall's rehabilitation centre, Steve Davis (Achilles), Christophe Remy (thigh), Phil Gilchrist (hamstring) and Simon Weatherstone (illness), and is just praying the injuries and sickness clear up quickly.

"I knew when I took this job that it was going to be difficult because the club has no money. What kills you is having no money and also the kind of injuries to senior players that we have at the moment. "Injuries to one or two senior players you can cope with, but not to three or four or five with a squad as small as ours.

"At Swindon, we lacked physical strength. I heard the comment that it was men against boys and I have to agree with it. We've got to have the strength to deal with teams.

"Unfortunately the kids have to come in and do a job for longer than you expect, which is not ideal. Lads like Cook and Powell have come in and done well, but in local derbies you need to be especially strong."

Shotton added: "I'm trying to bring in people but I can't because we've got no money, and we don't even have money to bring in a player on loan.

"Murphy tweaked his hamstring on Wednesday night so we're really down to the bare bones. And we're battling against sides who are spending decent-sized dough and who have much bigger squads.

"So where do we go from here? All you can do is do your best which is what we are all doing."

Shotton will see how bad Murphy's hamstring injury is today, and whether Gilchrist has recovered enough to play tomorrow. But Weatherstone and Remy are out.

A further worry comes with impending suspensions. Martin Gray is one booking away from a ban after getting his fourth yellow card of the season on Wednesday.

Ipswich have had successive 3-0 victories, but manager George Burley has warned against complacency.

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