Rangers loanee Brandon Barker was dropped by Oxford United boss Karl Robinson for a fixture against Northampton Town on Tuesday night as the EFL League One club’s promotion hopes took a further hit.
Barker joined the Us on loan on 1st February in search of playing time and he’s seen 719 minutes of league action already, over double the amount of Premiership minutes he received across the first half of the season.
Robinson waxed lyrical about the pacy attacker when the loan switch was confirmed [Oxford Mail] and he’s regularly named Barker in his starting XI on the left wing.
Following a 2-0 home defeat to Blackpool at the weekend, though, in which he failed to make a tangible contribution despite showing flashes of promise, the Gers loanee was dropped from the side.
He was one of five players to lose their place as Robinson shook things up for a trip to Northampton, but the wholesale changes didn’t pay off.
With his adopted side trailing 1-0, Barker was brought on in the 66th minute to try to find an equaliser, but his introduction didn’t have the desired effect and relegation-threatened Northampton triumphed.
The narrow defeat constitutes another blow to Oxford’s promotion hopes.
They currently sit eleventh in the highly competitive third tier and are three points outside the playoff spots, but many of the teams above them have at least one game in hand.
Barker has now made 13 league appearances for the Us, scoring two goals and notching two assists.
Meanwhile, an SPFL boss has explained why an exciting Rangers loanee was sent back to Ibrox just over two weeks after heading out on loan.