JOEL Cooper has joined Port Vale on loan until the end of the season.

The Oxford United winger has found game-time hard to come by in 2021/22, making just five appearances.

Vale are tenth in Sky Bet League Two, five points shy of the play-off places, although they are without a win in five matches.

United head coach Karl Robinson told the club's official website: “Joel needs to be playing games, Port Vale are a good club where we know he will be looked after and hopefully he gets to help them push on from their league position in the second half of the season.”

Cooper will hope the loan spell allows him to get a run of games under his belt in England for the first time.

The 25-year-old joined United on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee in July 2020 and played seven times during the first two months of last season.

But he returned home to Northern Ireland to deal with personal issues that November and was loaned to Irish Premiership outfit Linfield, who he had left that summer.

Cooper helped the club win a league and cup double before coming back to the Kassam Stadium ahead of this season.

Three of his five appearances in 2021/22 have come in the Papa John’s Trophy, scoring twice in the 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur Under 21s in October.

Cooper was a late substitute in the Sky Bet League One games against Fleetwood Town and Rotherham United the following month, but is yet to start in the third tier for United.