Cambridge United seeking to strengthen squad before end of transfer window
Cambridge United have an almost clean bill of health ahead of the visit of Sky Bet League Two leaders Newport County on Saturday (October 10).
Liam O’Neil is the only confirmed absentee, with the midfielder set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines.
The EFL Trophy match against Burton Albion on Tuesday night, in which the U’s fought back from 2-0 down to win 4-2, gave head coach Mark Bonner the opportunity to provide some much-needed squad rotation.
“The game on Tuesday was good for us to be able to rest a couple, particularly Kyle (Knoyle), said Bonner.
“He has played so much football and we ask him to be really dynamic and explosive, and he has been outstanding this season. We hope the rest has been a good one for him.
“Adam May has gone from not a lot of football for a while to playing a really heavy game load in a short period of time so we think freshing him up from the game should hopefully reflect in his training later this week to give him the best chance of getting in the team for Saturday.
“Knibbsy (Harvey Knibbs) got 90 minutes for the first time in a while as well so it’s good for those boys as it gets them closer to it and hopefully the freshness we can get into one or two will help as well.”
The U’s are still looking to strengthen their ranks ahead of the transfer window closing next Friday (October 16).
It has been necessitated by the injury to O’Neil, with Paul Digby and Adam May the only other out-and-out central midfielders in the squad.
“We’re in a situation where we will add something to the team,” said Bonner. “The area where we are lightest is probably in central midfield.
“You could argue maybe centre back as well, but we feel three for two will hopefully be enough to get us through the 20 games we’ve got between now and January and we know others can fill in there.
“We know since Liam has been out of the team, the central midfield is an area where we need to add and we need to add someone with similar qualities to him, preparing for the possibility of if Paul Digby was unavailable what it will look like.”
He added: “We can expect to see something in the next week, and we should expect that it is most likely to be in that central midfield position.
“If anything else does happen, I’m not discounting that but I’m also not saying it’s likely.
“We will just have a look at that as time goes on and see what becomes available but we do want to keep a tight-knit group.”
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