DES Buckingham has been impressed with what he’s seen from Gatlin O’Donkor in a wide role this summer.

With Oxford United currently short on wide options, O’Donkor has been used as a winger in training, and played on the right-hand side in both pre-season friendlies against Oxford City and Solihull Moors.

Those games saw the 19-year-old power infield onto his left foot, where he was then in a position to cross the ball or get a shot away.

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United head coach Buckingham said: “We’re trying him out in different positions. We know he can play down the middle, and he’s shown that at the club and on loan in the past couple of seasons.

“While we’re building the team at the moment, we’re still a couple of positions light, so we’re trying him out in those positions to see how he gets on. I’ve been extremely pleased with what I’ve seen.

“We’ve got another game on Wednesday and we’re not expecting anyone else to come in before that timeframe, and of course we play Mansfield away on Saturday.

“We’ll give him the opportunity to train with the team and learn that position, and see what he can do.”

O’Donkor played 26 times for United last season, before linking up with Vanarama National League side Barnet on loan from February onwards.

He hit the ground running and scored five goals in 13 league matches for the Bees.

Buckingham said: “If we feel it will be better for his development to go back out on loan, and it’s the same with some of the other younger players, we don’t want to stifle their development.

“We don’t want to keep him here and not play him. We’ve seen that impact last year when he did go out, and the difference it can make for him, but we’ll take our time on it.”