OXFORD United will not rush Luke McNally’s return to action as the young centre back grieves the death of a close friend.

The 22-year-old flew home to Ireland on Tuesday following the tragedy, having travelled up to the north west for that evening’s game at Accrington Stanley.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s visit of Bolton Wanderers in Sky Bet League One, Karl Robinson confirmed the U’s will let the defender decide when he is ready to play again.

United’s head coach said: “Luke was a little bit better yesterday.

“This young boy sadly lost his life at 21 years of age and it’s hit Luke, it’s someone he’s grown up with.

“You know how important people’s wellbeing is to me, that comes before football.

“Everyone at the club sends their wishes and I’m sure the fans will as well.

“He’s been a tremendous young player for us this year and I’m sure he is someone who will grow.

“When you’re working with somebody’s emotions that’s not something that can be motivated or dampened down. That’s just how you feel as a human being.

"On Monday afternoon I said to him to travel and if you feel you’re not capable of performing, which is for the right reasons, we can always get you a flight from Manchester back to Dublin.

“He phoned me at 9am on the Tuesday and said ‘gaffer, I’ve not slept, I’m not in a good place’.

“We left that to his decision and this will be exactly the same.”

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Before Accrington, McNally had started United's previous three games following Jordan Thorniley's return to Blackpool and scored against Portsmouth last Saturday. 

Ciaron Brown came in for the 2-0 defeat to Stanley but was forced off with an ankle injury midway through the second half.

Robinson said United are ‘unsure’ if the Cardiff City loanee will be available against Bolton, while they will know more about Sam Long today following the right back’s calf issue.

“Ciaron’s still got a swollen ankle so we’ll wait to see how that materialises in the next 48 hours, but it’s all part of our back four constantly rotating,” he said.

“We’ve got to make sure that when our players come back fit we build on our back four.”