Oxford United boss gives injury update before Peterborough game

Last week, the pair were ruled out until the new year, with U’s head coach Des Buckingham hopeful the expert will be able to provide a more definitive timeline on their returns.

Browne lasted just 12 minutes upon his return from injury during United’s 2-0 win against Grimsby Town in the Emirates FA Cup last weekend.

The winger had been out since picking up a hamstring complaint during the 3-1 win at Barnsley back in August.

He replaced Josh Murphy after 68 minutes against the Mariners, but his return lasted just 12 minutes, before he was substituted.

Marcus Browne in action earlier this season for Oxford United (Image: Mike Allen)

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Edwards meanwhile scored two goals in four games after arriving on loan from Ipswich Town during deadline day in the summer.

He suffered a hamstring injury during training at the end of September, and played the final 25 minutes in the 2-0 loss at Cheltenham Town on November 25, Buckingham’s first game in charge of United.

The 25-year-old then played the first half of the goalless draw at home to Bolton Wanderers, but was left out of the matchday squad against Grimsby.

Kyle Edwards has scored two goals in four games after arriving on loan from Ipswich Town (Image: Mike Allen)

Buckingham said: “We’ve sent both of them to a specialist, just to get some further insight.

“There are no real further updates on timeframes for them, but we’re hopeful in the next couple of days once we’ve spoken to the specialist, we’ll have a lot clearer timelines for them.”

He added: “To miss any player going into the Christmas run-in is a blow. It’s a blow for the player firstly, because they’ve worked extremely hard to get back to where they were, and it’s a blow to the team because we want to achieve things this season.

“To do that, we know how important having as many players as we can available to us for every game or as much as possible is, especially those guys at the top end of the field, that contribute heavily towards the goalscoring side of things.

“It’s a blow, but we’ll assess things and won’t get carried away.”

Stephan Negru meanwhile is to undergo a scan on the injury he suffered in the closing stages of the midweek win at Forest Green Rovers in the EFL Trophy.

Buckingham said: “Steph goes for a scan today, and we’ll assess any damage to him from that, and we’ll be able to hopefully get some timelines around potentially missing more games.

“It’s a hamstring, we just don’t know the extent of that, but the scan will certainly do it.

“We couldn’t do it any sooner, it has to settle down and get the images that we need out of the scanner, so we’ll have a look at that and make a plan around what that looks like.”