The U’s are currently without nine players, while they are sweating on the outcome of a scan which Leicester City loanee Ben Nelson went for after he hobbled off in midweek.

Nelson was forced off just after the hour mark in United’s 1-0 win at home against Hull City on Tuesday night.

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Giving a detailed update on the rest of his injured players, U’s head coach Buckingham confirmed that Cameron Brannagan, Przemyslaw Placheta and Matt Phillips should be the first ones to return to training.

Buckingham said: “We’re expecting Cam Brannagan and Shemmy [Placheta] to be back on the pitches on Monday and join the group again, which will be great.

“The next one after is Matty Phillips. We’re expecting him the week after on the Monday.

“Obviously all these dates are on the proviso that they come through their rehab and everything goes as well as it can.

“The next ones back after that are Jordan Thorniley, who’s been out with an ankle injury, but is due back on the 21st, and then Kyle Edwards from the start of December.

“Siriki [Dembele] is a little bit later in December, while the likes of Max Woltman and Joe Bennett are next year, and Louie Sibley will be the end of December now for his timeframe.

“These can change, maybe a week or two either side if there’s a setback of course.”

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Buckingham added: “We’ve almost got a starting XI out at the moment, but as we saw on Tuesday night, the players have to be ready, and we’ve spoken about the importance of the squad.

“We don’t want to have to continue to do that, not because the players in the other positions aren’t good enough, but it’s more because we’re asking the same players to perform to the levels that the league demands consistently.

“When you’ve got less players to pick from that you can rotate with, it’s a greater strain on the players, so injuries are higher risk, but also asking them to perform at their best becomes very difficult.”

United meanwhile are playing three games within the space of a week, following home matches against Swansea City and Hull on Saturday and Tuesday respectively, and then make the trip to Watford tomorrow night.

Buckingham said: “To play three games in six days when there is still so much time still to play in the season is not helpful, certainly for us.

“Us missing six or seven players will impact us far greater than maybe another team that’s been established in this league for a long time.”