Michael Appleton has admitted it would be a surprise if Joe Riley returned to Oxford United on loan before tomorrow’s trip to Dagenham & Redbridge.

The right back returned to Bolton Wanderers this week after spending the first half of the season at United, where he quickly became an established player.

The U’s want to bring him back for the rest of the campaign, but there is interest from at least one club in Sky Bet League One.

United’s head coach said: “There’s a lot of interest from other clubs and we’re still speaking to Bolton on a daily basis to see where we’re at.

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“They wanted to have a little look at Joe, they have a new manager in place and you’d expect that anyway.

“I’d be very surprised if he comes into the reckoning for Dagenham, although we’re certainly not thinking that one’s dead completely.

“If it goes beyond Saturday and we’re not getting the vibes we want come Monday or Tuesday, I think we have to start looking elsewhere.”

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