Plymouth Argyle vs Oxford United - Jordon Forster and Ryan Brunt out for Plymouth

Posted Friday, March 04, 2016 by PA

Plymouth will be without Jordon Forster for the next four to six weeks after the loan defender damaged his jaw in midweek.

The Pilgrims paid a heavy price for their 1-0 defeat at Barnet with both Forster and striker Ryan Brunt sustaining injuries to rule them out of Saturday's Sky Bet League 2 promotion tussle with Oxford and for some time to come.

Forster, on loan from Hibernian, crashed into advertising hoardings while 10-goal Brunt suffered suspected knee ligament damage and could miss the rest of the season.

Kelvin Mellor, who suffered a dead leg against Notts County last weekend, will come in for Forster with Craig Tanner or Daniel Nardiello set to replace Brunt.

Oxford are without Zeli Ismail after deciding against extending his loan this week.

Ismail, 22, has returned to Wolves after his temporary spell with the U's ended following the club's 4-0 win against York on Tuesday.

Jake Wright may return from a hamstring injury but manager Michael Appleton will make a late assessment on whether to include the defender in his team to face the Greens.

Ryan Taylor (groin), Sam Long (hip) and John Lundstram (ankle) remain on the sidelines.