Oxford United head coach Des Buckingham has provided a worrying update about Cameron Brannagan after the side’s 2-2 draw with Northampton Town on Tuesday night.
The U’s limped above Peterborough United yesterday into fifth place after picking up a point at home to the Cobblers. However, Buckingham will be disappointed his team couldn’t hold out for the three points, having taken the lead twice throughout the match.
As the score was locked at one goal apiece, January signing Will Goodwin popped up with his first for the club with less than ten minutes of normal time remaining to hand Oxford United the lead. This was the 21-year-old’s seventh goal of the season across his time at Cheltenham Town and the Kassam Stadium.
Nevertheless, as the game moved into stoppage time, the Yellows were handed a crushing blow as Norwich City loanee Tony Springett popped up with a late equaliser for the visitors to share the spoils, denying Buckingham a sixth league win at the helm.
The Oxfordshire club have been on a poor run of form under the 39-year-old, picking up merely five victories in 18 games since he replaced Liam Manning in the dugout. Furthermore, United have some difficult fixtures on the near horizon against Leyton Orient, Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers.
Besides the late equaliser, Oxford United were dealt another blow last night as Cameron Brannagan went down for treatment midway through the second half and was eventually forced to come off despite being cleared by the medical staff on the pitch.
Speaking after the game, Buckingham issued an update on Brannagan’s injury but admitted that losing him is a worry after Marcus McGuane was also sidelined for the past two matches [quotes via Oxford Mail]:
“He was a little bit concerned when he went down, but the medical team cleared him of all the tests they did on the pitch.
“He was okay in himself to continue. He gave it a go but just wasn’t comfortable in the end. We’ll see how he is and take it from there,” he continued.
🗣️ Des Buckingham on a point against Northampton pic.twitter.com/gpqe0KUqfv
— Oxford United (@OUFCOfficial) February 20, 2024
“It’s a worry but we’ve got Jay Matete here, and we brought Josh McEachran on, so we’ve got cover in those positions.
“You never want to be without players like Marcus McGuane and Cameron Brannagan because whether they’re starters or people that come on, they have a massive impact on what we want to do.”
Writer’s View
Brannagan has been such an important player for Oxford United this season, having scored eight goals and recorded seven assists in 36 matches in all competitions. In fact, no player at the Kassam Stadium has registered more goal contributions than the 27-year-old this term.
However, with McGuane and potentially Brannagan out over the coming weeks, Buckingham still has Matete and McEachran to turn to, although his options are certainly limited in the middle of the park.
