Boss Karl Robinson told the Oxford Mail: “Sykesy needs to go and play some minutes.

“I think while we have all these players at the moment there’s no point having an investment being a substitute.

“We feel playing in League Two hopefully will allow us to grow that and hopefully bring him back in January to fight for his place.

He added: “We’ve got Cameron Brannagan who is on fire in that position. Ben Woodburn and Jamie Hanson can play in there, even Tariqe (Fosu).

“Shandon’s coming back now as well, so we’ve got a lot of players who can play in that position.”

Sykes, who arrived from NIFL side Glenavon in January, made eleven appearances for the U’s as they secured their League One status, earning a call-up to the Northern Ireland squad.

His absence from the first team during that time saw him become a less important figure at Oxford, but the U’s boss insists that despite being available for a move away, he is still part of the future plan at the club.

“I remember when I was at Charlton we did it with Karlan Ahearne-Grant, who went out and scored loads of goals for Crawley. He came back to Charlton and became the main man.

“Sometimes people see going out on loan as the end of a player. It’s certainly not, he’s one for the future and is one we’re looking forward to developing.”

It may benefit Sykes. Although he is a handy member of the squad, it’s unlikely he’ll be pushing to feature regularly. If he can drop down a division and play regular football, it may help him when he returns to the Kassam.