Kurtis Guthrie could face another spell on the sidelines, after hobbling with an ankle injury during Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Carlisle United.

Front-runner Guthrie had just been settling back into the U’s team, after effectively being out of action for eight months with a previous long-term ankle problem. Now the 24-year-old is back on the treatment table, after being hurt in a poor challenge by defender Clint Hill.

“It was a nasty tackle on Kurtis, which might have robbed us of Kurtis coming back, because I thought his performance was really good,” explained U’s boss John McGreal.

“It’s his ankle. He looks in a bit of a state at the moment, and he has had his feet in a bucket.

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“It didn’t look good and in the end he is getting carried of, or at least he’s hobbling off with Flynny (physio Tony Flynn). He is a tough kid as well.

“It knocked us a little bit, and we had to adjust.”