DES Buckingham has not ruled out utilising Ruben Rodrigues as a striker following his brief cameo there in the late win against Cambridge United.

James Henry replaced Mark Harris for the final 10 minutes, a switch which saw Rodrigues move into the number nine position.

The 27-year-old has played almost exclusively in an advanced midfield role since signing for Oxford United in the summer, while he has also featured out wide at times.

However, he was used by previous club Notts County as a striker, in addition to his primary role as a creative midfielder.

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After watching Rodrigues play up front for the U’s, head coach Buckingham said: “We’re trying to manage Sparky [Harris]. He’s started most of the games and nearly run out 90 minutes.

“We’ve got another game in three days, so we need to manage him, and just with the way this game played out, we felt by playing Ruben there, a little bit more flare maybe, and being able to link alongside three good midfield players would just allow us to create a little bit more centrally and open up opportunities for the wide players.

“When teams sit off deep and there’s no space because they drop off, having someone like Ruben alongside a Cam [Cameron Brannagan], a Jamo [James Henry] or a Billy Bodin, it’s just a little bit more creativity to feet.

“If you haven’t got the space behind, there are going to be tight spaces in front.

“We just felt with Ruben there, that would complement what we had going through, but we’d still be able to break lines and get through with Millsy [Stan Mills] and Tyler [Goodrham] on the other side.”

Rodrigues scored 19 goals and bagged 15 assists, to help the Magpies secure promotion to Sky Bet League Two during the 2022/23 campaign.

In total, he netted 51 times for the club in three seasons, including in the Vanarama National League play-off final against Chesterfield.

Such an impressive goal return suggests Rodrigues could play as a striker.

Asked by this newspaper whether he would consider playing Rodrigues as a centre forward from the start of a game, Buckingham responded: “It’s an option and I wouldn’t lock it off to say we wouldn’t start with it.

“It’s about making sure we’ve got the right team on the field at the start, and if as the game progresses, we need to manage it because we think we can get an advantage somewhere else, we’ll make those changes.”

A new striker remains a key priority for United in next month’s transfer window, with Buckingham saying: “We know what we want for January, and we’re very clear on that, and the board have been very supportive on that.

“We’ve highlighted what we want and where we need it, and who that person or people may be, so now it’s a case of myself and the recruitment team, and the board, try and get that across the line earlier in January than later, as that will help everybody.”