Oxford will be hoping to record consecutive League One victories for the first time this season when they travel to highflying Portsmouth on Tuesday evening.

Having endured a difficult period following their League One play-off final defeat to Wycombe, Karl Robinson's men are slowly beginning to improve - picking up six points from their previous three matches.

After beating Burton earlier this month, the U's then picked up just their second away success of the season at struggling Wigan on Saturday thanks to goals from Matt Taylor and James Henry at the DW Stadium.

But one man that wasn't involved in Lancashire was striker Sam Winnall.

Since joining following his release from Sheffield Wednesday in September, Winnall has only appeared five times in an Oxford shirt and suffered a hamstring injury in last Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at Crewe.

 

20 quiz questions about Oxford United's current squad that U's fans should be getting correct

 

 

That problem then kept the striker out of the trip to Wigan, and according to Hampshire Live, Winnall is now also expected to miss the game at Fratton Park tomorrow.

The Verdict

Injuries have pretty much been the story of Winnall's career since he left Barnsley in 2017 - making just a handful of appearances in each of the previous four seasons.

But following their victory over the Latics, he likely wouldn't have started against Pompey, and Robinson is well covered in the strike department at present with the likes of Henry, Dan Agyei and Taylor all capable of playing through the middle, so Oxford should be able to cope without Winnall.