HEAD coach Michael Appleton fears Oxford United skipper Jake Wright could be out for much longer than first thought.

It was initially hoped the defender, who suffered back spasms in the 3-2 defeat to Barnet on October 24, would stand a chance of featuring in last Sunday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Braintree.

But the 29-year-old has been unable to train, and underwent a scan on Saturday.

And Appleton admits it is a waiting game as to how long Wright will be out for.

“He’s not trained since coming off against Barnet,” United’s boss said.

“He could possibly be out for a while yet, but I have no idea.

“He had a scan on Saturday and we will have a better idea when we get the results.”

Wright will definitely miss United’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy clash at Dagenham & Redbridge tonight, and looks to again be on the sidelines along with leading scorer Kemar Roofe, who also underwent a scan on his shoulder.

The forward, who also sat out the FA Cup tie, damaged a ligament during a fall against Bristol Rovers in September, but has been playing through the pain barrier.

While the former West Brom trainee has always been aware the injury would take time to heal, Appleton revealed the scan was more of a precaution.

“We are not expecting to find anything new if we are being honest – it’s for his own piece of mind really,” he said.

“He has not had any major issues with it, but he was just a little bit sore after the Stevenage game.

“I keep saying to him, ‘you don’t play football with your shoulder, you play with your feet so don’t worry too much about it’.”