THE door is not closed on Charlie Raglan at Oxford United despite him being loaned out last week, according to Derek Fazackerley.

An ankle injury has kept Raglan out since the summer, but after one game for United he departed on a short-term deal before the transfer window shut.

The 24-year-old made his debut for Port Vale in their 1-1 draw with Morecambe on Saturday.

But in explaining the decision to let Raglan go, caretaker boss Fazackerley believes the centre back will be back in the frame next season.

He said: “Charlie’s contracted to us next year and we know what Charlie’s about, so I thought it’s in his best interests to go and try to play some football.

“I couldn’t guarantee him the football he might have wanted here at this moment.

“We’ve signed Rob Dickie and at some point we need to get a good view of him, so I thought it was best he went on loan to get some games under his belt.

“Hopefully that’s the way it’ll work out for him.

“He was very keen to try to play and we couldn’t guarantee that so reluctantly in some respects we agreed for him to go out on loan.”