Cambridge United defender Scott Malone set to miss League One fixtures against Huddersfield Town and Leyton Orient

Scott Malone is ‘unlikely’ to feature for Cambridge United over the Easter period.

The left-back, who joined the U’s a free agent in early March, limped off during last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic with a hip injury that he sustained while attempting a cross-field pass.

Malone appeared to be reluctant to leave the field initially, believing that he could have carried on. However, boss Neil Harris took the decision to replace the 34-year-old, who is now set to miss tomorrow’s trip to his former club Huddersfield Town and the home encounter against Leyton Orient on Monday.

Harris said: “Scott Malone obviously came off in the game the other day so it’s unlikely we’re going to see him over the Easter period.

“We’ll have to wait for more news on him but when a player comes off injured on a Saturday they’re not often available the week after. He’s not been on the training pitch yet.

“Even a man that’s played 500 games in the top two divisions, you still have to help them sometimes to get over the line and make good decisions. It (bringing him off) was the right thing to do.

“He felt it straight away. I’ve seen that injury before and knew he wouldn’t be able to continue. It’s a ball-striking injury. He wanted to stay on the pitch but sometimes it falls on me as the leader and the experienced man in the group to try to make sensible decisions.”

Both goalkeeper Nathan Bishop and midfielder Paul Digby could potentially return this weekend from injury lay-offs, with the Orient game a more likely target.

Defender Jubril Okedina is also back in training and could be in contention, while forward Shayne Lavery remains on course to feature before the end of the campaign after a number of months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.