Oxford United skipper Adam Murray may be back on the bench for their trip to Tamworth on Sunday.

The midfielder has been on the sidelines with back problems for the past two months.

His last first-team game was at home to Tamworth in January, when the Midlanders pulled off a shock 1-0 victory.

Assistant manager Mickey Lewis said: “Muzzer’s been back for a couple of weeks, but he was out for quite a long time.

“I think, even before he was out, he was having a few little problems with his back and, fair play to him, he managed to carry on playing.

“So he’s missed a lot of training. He’s knuckling down in training and working really hard.”

The U’s hope to have James Constable and Alfie Potter back, but will not know until after today’s training session whether Constable is OK.

As the promotion-chasing clubs approach the home straight, being efficient in both penalty areas is going to be vital.

Lewis said: “We’re normally pretty good at it, but the last couple of games we’ve conceded goals from set pieces, so we need to be more switched on with that.

“And in the opposing box, most of the season, we’ve created a lot of chances. Perhaps we need to be just a little bit more ruthless in there.

“We’re not unduly worried if we’re not playing flowing football. You can’t play that all season. Even Man Utd and Chelsea don’t manage that.”

Tamworth: Alcock, Tait, Rodman, Lyttle, Mitchell, Wylde, Pritchard, Sheridan, J Smith, Murdock, Christie, Briscoe, Lake-Gaskin, MacKenzie, Fankem, Shaw.

Oxford Utd: (from) Clarke, Batt, Day, Wright, Tonkin, Bulman, Chalmers, Clist, Potter, Constable, Deering, Turley, F Green, M Green, Chapman, Creighton, Midson, Grant, Murray, Cook.