Oxford United midfielder Cameron Brannagan could make a shock return to the field as early as Boxing Day.
The 24-year-old has been sidelined since October after suffering a rare inflammation behind the eye which result in him being hospitalised.
As a result, the midfielder was placed on a low dose of steroids. Although still on the medication, Brannagan played 20 minutes in an in-house friendly last week and may come off the bench on Saturday against AFC Wimbledon.
Speaking to the Oxford Mail, U’s boss Karl Robinson said: “It’s a very slow development in his sight, but there’s a development.
“He seems to be shaking off everything that we throw at him and he’s working extremely hard.
“It’s a shame with the amount of games we’ve got that we can’t give him 60 minutes in a behind closed doors game.
“We’ll probably look to start him against Cambridge, but I don’t see why he can’t play cameo roles and really make a claim for his position.”
The game against Cambridge in the Papa John’s Trophy takes place on January 12 and it could be just his sixth start of the season.
Elsewhere, skipper John Mousinho is likely to miss out the game against the Dons with the return of Rob Atkinson. Sam Winnall is also set to return, having been out for over a month.
