DES Buckingham says he would be happy to play Oisin Smyth again at right back if required.

The 23-year-old midfielder started there as the U’s beat Forest Green Rovers to progress to the last 16 of the EFL Trophy last night.

Sam Long’s ankle injury has left Brentford loanee Fin Stevens as United’s sole senior right back, and head coach Buckingham was keen to see how Smyth would operate in the back four.

The former Dungannon Swifts player was sometimes used as a No 10 by previous U’s boss Liam Manning, while he has previously played at centre half for Northern Ireland Under-21s.

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Buckingham said: “I’d watched the games for Northern Ireland where he played at centre back, as the right-sided centre back.

“The way that we play at times, when the defenders slide around, we almost end up as a back three, so it was a chance to see him.

“Whatever he was asked to do, he stood up to and did well. It’s not his first position and not the position we signed him to play, but to know he can play there gives us different options.

“We know that Sam Long is still out, we’ve got Fin in that position only, so we just need to make sure we have cover there, and to see him play there, I’d be happy enough to play him again there if we needed to.”