PATRICK Hoban is in the frame for his first Oxford United start tomorrow after Will Hoskins suffered a mild reaction to playing last weekend.

Hoban made his U’s debut against Southend United, coming on at half-time in the 3-2 loss at the Kassam Stadium.

The Irishman is in need of game time to get up to full fitness, but did not feature for the development side in their goalless draw against the Nike Academy in midweek.

But head coach Michael Appleton revealed the reason behind the omission – United could not afford to lose another striker before the home game against Exeter City.

Hoskins sat out training this week with inflammation around his groin after starting against Southend, while James Roberts is recovering from a hamstring problem.

Appleton said: “We’ve got no-one else.

“If you took Will and Pat out of it then with James Roberts being out as well it was far too much of a risk.

“It has allowed us to give Pat a full week’s training.

“He had the half game on Saturday and in terms of his fitness he surprised me because he’s not properly kicked a ball since he left Dundalk in November.”

Hoskins, who has only just returned from four months out with a groin injury, looks very unlikely to keep his place in the starting line-up, but could still make the squad against the Grecians if he can train today.

Roberts picked up his problem a fortnight ago, but is not far away.

Appleton was hopeful the teenager would complete some training before the weekend, but he will not be considered tomorrow.