Idris El Mizouni faces fitness test ahead of Cambridge United’s clash with Leyton Orient on Boxing Day
Idris El Mizouni is a doubt for Cambridge United’s Christmas fixtures.
The 20-year-old midfielder suffered a knock in the win over Colchester United, and it forced him to miss the 1-0 defeat to Bradford City last Saturday.
He has not been back in training yet this week, but is set to undergo a test ahead of the home match with Leyton Orient on Boxing Day.
“The only one we are waiting on is Idris to see if he can train,” said United head coach Mark Bonner.
“He hasn’t trained yet. He should hopefully be out running with the physios and whether or not he trains today or Christmas Eve will be dependent on how he does.
“He is touch and go as to whether he will be in the squad, but everyone else is fit and available.”
Liam O’Neil and Hiram Boateng remain long-term absentees.
The clash with Leyton Orient is the first of three over the festive period, with a fixture scheduled at Stevenage on Tuesday, December 29 and a trip to Grimsby Town on Saturday, January 2.
United’s flying start to the season has been checked in recent weeks, and they head into the next run of games in ninth place in the Sky Bet League Two table.
“Ultimately, we are in a period of the season where we’ve got to stay in touch with the teams above us,” said Bonner.
“Therefore, we’ve got to make sure we get a better points return in the next six games than we did in the last six.
“The first six games we took 13 points, if we had maintained that we would have won the league.
“In the second six games we took 11 points, and if we had maintained that over the whole season we would have been a top three team.
“In the next six games we took four points, and we are probably two points off the curve of a play-off season if we stay on the track we’re on now.
“We need to make sure the next six games return us more points and that we don’t fall away from the teams above us, and make our game in hand in January count.
“Over the course of 18 games, if you’d said at the start of the year that this is the situation you find ourselves in, we would have all taken that.”
It has been four defeats in their past five games for the U’s, but that has to be put in context in the backdrop of a very solid start.
They are the fifth top scorers in the division, and have the third best defensive record.
“Of course, the number of defeats is disappointing because we had become a team that hated losing,” said Bonner.
“We don’t want to become a team that is an easy touch for people to beat, but by the same token it’s the order of the results that has caught us in the last little batch of results that hasn’t quite gone our way.
“But we’ve had two really good performances at home against Gillingham in the cup and Colchester in the league - we’ve got to replicate that level as much as we can because that gives us the best chance of taking points and staying in touch with those teams above us.”
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