Thursday Sep 29 2005 10:52
Oxford United boss Ian Atkins is optimistic that leading scorer Steve Basham will have recovered from his leg injury in time to face Colchester in the FA Cup first round.
A challenge from Darlington's David McGurk left Basham with a badly bruised leg, an incident that still has Atkins seething.
"Bash's leg is in a hell of a mess, there are stud marks from the knee to the ankle," he told the Oxford Mail.
"The lad should have been sent off for it and shown a straight red.
"He got a yellow card and then made another bad challenge on Chris Hackett which earned him a second yellow.
"I've watched the incident with Basham on the video and it was a terrible tackle.
"The leg is going to be very tender. The only good thing is that it is only bruising, nothing more serious, so we're hopeful he'll still be able to play in the cup."
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