Rangers loanee Brandon Barker bagged his first goal for Oxford United on Tuesday night with an injury-time strike in a 2-0 win at Bristol Rovers.
Barker secured a loan switch to the EFL League One side late on deadline day as his playing time had been limited at Ibrox over the first half of the season.
After sitting out of an EFL Trophy quarter-final a few days later, he made his first appearance at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
It wasn’t the debut the 24-year-old would have been hoping for, though, as he was taken off at half-time and the Us went on to lose the game.
He then missed out on the starting XI for Tuesday night’s league fixture against Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium but made a big impact off the bench.
Karl Robinson’s side were leading 1-0 when Barker was introduced in the 59th minute but the opposition were still very much in the game until he made the points safe in the second minute of injury time.
He drove into the left side of the area before shifting the ball onto his left foot and firing powerfully past the keeper.
“When you come to a new club you want to get your first goal out of the way,” said a delighted Barker after the game. “Thankfully, I did that, and it was a sigh of relief right near the end of the game as we were under a bit of pressure and we got the three points.”
The win lifted Oxford from eleventh to ninth in the English third tier and Barker will be hoping he did enough in his substitute appearance to earn a place in the starting XI for their home fixture against Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
It’s a productive start to Barker’s stint in England but there was frustration for Scotland-based Rangers loanees on Tuesday after a controversial SFA decision.
