Just when it seemed as though there was light at the end of the tunnel with Oxford United's long-term injury list, they have been hit by another blow.
Right wingback Eddie Anaclet injured medial ligaments in his knee during United's 1-1 draw at home to York City on Sunday and will be out for six weeks.
That's the same length of time on the sidelines that Rob Duffy faces after last season's leading scorer broke a wrist in the same game.
Duffy had to come off and was replaced by Gary Twigg, who continues his own comeback from an ankle injury by playing for Oxford United Reserves in a friendly at Milton United tonight (7.30).
Although Anaclet got through Sunday's game at the Kassam Stadium, his knee was swollen afterwards and further investigation showed ligament damage similar to that which has kept Joel Ledgister out of action in recent weeks.
It's a further frustrating setback for U's boss Jim Smith, who thought he was just getting key players back from serious injury.
Smith said: "This happened to us last year with serious first-team players. We thought Steve Basham was going to be a 20-goal-a-year man and he was never fit, and even Duffy broke his arm last year and was out for a while.
"When you've got people who are main men out, it makes life difficult, but we made life difficult for ourselves on Sunday. It wasn't the injuries that cost us then. We've got a strong squad, to be honest, and we just made silly mistakes."
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