MAMADOU Fofana’s loan spell at Oxford City has been cut short by parent club Barrow ahead of tomorrow’s Vanarama National League South trip to Eastbourne Borough.

Fofana, who joined Barrow permanently in the summer from City, had not been due to return to the north-west until after tomorrow’s match, leaving general manager Justin Merritt with a gap in midfield.

“We anticipated him playing for us this weekend, but Barrow have had a spate of injuries and had to recall him early,” said Merritt.

“It’s disappointing for us, but we’re in an open dialogue with them and we’ll have to take it from there.”

With midfielder Ander Del Alamo likely to be out until the new year with an ankle injury, City are relieved captain Darren Pond has recovered from a similar injury.

Defender Lee Henderson is still missing, although he has returned to light training.

City have slipped to third place in the table after just one win in five matches, but Merritt is confident that a victory tomorrow will see his side back on track to challenge league leaders Ebbsfleet United for the title.

“I think we’re in a good place again,” he said.

“We just need to get some more points on the board.

“We understand we’re not going to win every game and that sometimes you’re going to get these spells.

“I can only gauge it by their performance levels and on the whole those have been really good.

“Against Gosport we deserved to win and the only one which was a real disappointment was the Havant game – other than that they’ve all been good.”

The return of striker Marlon Jackson has provided a welcome boost, with the 24-year-old scoring a brace from the bench in last weekend’s 6-3 victory over Marlow in the FA Trophy.

Jackson left Marsh Lane at the end of last season for National League side Tranmere Rovers.

But he agreed to a mutual termination of his registration before rejoining Merritt’s side.

Merritt said: “I didn’t want him to go in the first place, but players will always want to better themselves in a better division.

“He enjoyed his time with us last season and we’ve kept in touch.

“It didn’t work out for Marlon at Tranmere, but we’re delighted to have him back.”

TOMORROW’S SQUAD

Oxford City: Walker, Arzamendi, Benjamin, Coulson, Santiago, King, Stonehouse, Lapoujade, Fleet, Lafuente, Isaac, Bubb, McDonagh, Sterling-James, Pifarre, Jackson.