ED McGinty may be recalled early from his loan spell away from Oxford United, after the side lost Jamie Cumming to injury during last night’s draw at home to Portsmouth.

Chelsea loanee Cumming picked up a knock towards the end of the first half, with Ciaron Brown taking a couple of his goal kicks.

Cumming then didn’t appear for the second period, with Simon Eastwood replacing him between the sticks.

If Cumming is to miss any games, it would leave the U’s without a senior goalkeeper as back-up to Eastwood, with McGinty returning to former club Sligo Rovers on loan last week.

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Asked whether United have the option to bring McGinty back from his loan, head coach Des Buckingham said: “I think we’ve got a recall on him, I’ve just checked with Ed [Waldron] and the recruitment team, and I’m sure that’s what we sent him out on.

“We’ll assess Jamie. As far as I’m aware, he hasn’t pulled anything. He just felt very tight through his groin and you saw just before half-time, Ciaron ended up taking goal kicks for him, because he was concerned.

“The medical team checked him out, and rather than risk, we’ve taken him off. Simon Eastwood we know is a very experienced goalkeeper in this league, so if Simon has to start on Saturday, we’ll be very confident in Simon.”

Fin Stevens also trudged off with an injury last night, however Buckingham was unsure on his problem when asked soon after the final whistle.

When Stevens was forced off though, in the closing stages of the first half, Buckingham was faced with a decision on whether to use midfielder Oisin Smyth at right back, or switch to a three-man defence.

Buckingham opted for the former, maintaining his side’s shape and utilising Smyth as a right back.

“We’d set up to play a certain way against this team, and we wanted to shut off their threats,” explained Buckingham.

“We had a choice, we could’ve brought  on Stephan Negru, but we felt changing the shape of the team at that time would’ve caused too much disruption.

“I thought we were solid and sound in the first half, and limited them for chances, and also played some good football.

“Oisin has played there, and he’s more match fit than Stephan, and against quality opposition in Portsmouth, it felt like it was the right decision.”