MARCUS Browne could be sidelined for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury, says Karl Robinson.

The Oxford United forward was substituted just after the hour mark at Portsmouth on Tuesday, in what was his first start since returning from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

It was Browne’s second appearance in four days, having previously not played for almost 14 months after sustaining the issue at former club Middlesbrough in January 2021.

UPDATES: Oxford United v Burton Albion - live

The 24-year-old scored after three minutes at Fratton Park and Karl Robinson admitted it was a risk to play him.

United’s head coach said: “We think Marcus will be up to six weeks.

“He’s got a little nick in his hamstring, not too bad.

“We always knew he’d be dropping in and out. In some ways I’m not too down about it, he’ll be back for the last three or four weeks of the season and the play-offs if that’s where we end up.

“The big thing is we can now build him how we want to.

“We knew he had one or two issues with his hamstring coming into this and we knew it was a bit of a risk.

“I take responsibility for playing him in that game but it was worth it in some ways.

“We didn’t get the result, but we managed to protect some other players as well.

“We’re a bit frustrated by it, but we knew this was always going to be a probability somewhere along the way.”