Dan Church

Striking duo Tom Craddock and Deane Smalley will be out for a further month through injury.

The Oxford United pair will the FA Cup tie at Accrington, JPT game at Plymouth Argyle and important league fixtures up until the festive period.

Us boss Chris Wilder has confirmed that Craddock will be out between three to six months having cracked a rib, whilst former Chesterfield forward Smalley has had an operation on an abductor muscle injury.

26 year-old Craddock will be sorely missed having netted ten goals for the Yellows so far this campaign, four coming in the Us 5-0 humiliation of Accrington Stanley. Smalley has contributed three goals in all competitions, but hasn’t featured since Oxford’s satisfactory 0-0 home draw against Gillingham in early October.

Manager Wilder is disappointed by the news: “These things don’t help us, but we have to get on with it. Injuries have smashed us for possibly coming up to a year. We need to get our best players fit and out on the pitch and not in the stands”.

Coming into Tuesday’s encounter with fellow strugglers Barnet, Oxford will also be without midfielder Lee Cox. The Swindon Town loanee picked up his fifth yellow card during the 2-1 loss at Chesterfield on Saturday, missing the trip to Underhill through suspension. This means either Adam Chapman or Simon Heslop will fill the gap.