Holland starts: How we expect Oxford United to line up against Morecambe on Tuesday

Oxford United’s chances of finishing in League One’s play-off spots suffered a body blow on Saturday afternoon when they went down 1-0 to fellow promotion chasers Plymouth Argyle at Home Park.

Joe Edwards’ strike early in the second half settled the contest for the Pilgrims, who moved eight points clear of their opposition on the day, although Karl Robinson’s side still have a game in-hand.

That comes on Tuesday evening when the U’s make the long trip up north to face struggling Morecambe, although the Shrimps are coming off the back of an emphatic 3-0 success over Burton Albion.

With the weekend defeat to Argyle pushing them out of the top six, Oxford need a response and fast – but how are they going to line up?

Robinson has a number of injury concerns to contend with, and he was missing some key players in the loss to Plymouth on Saturday.

The likes of Elliott Moore, Cameron Brannagan, Sam Baldock, Marcus Browne and Alex Gorrin were all absentees – with the latter being a long-term one – but some faces could be welcomed back for the visit to the Mazuma Stadium.

Moore and Brannagan are the most likely of those – the former was suffering with illness and he may very well be recovered by now to take his place back in defence, but Brannagan’s head injury may not have cleared up in time.

There could also be a place in the starting line-up for Nathan Holland, with the West Ham loanee having four goals to his name this season and he began on the bench against Argyle at the weekend.

It may not be just personnel changes though that Robinson is considering, with perhaps a potential formation alteration in the offing.

Robinson changed to a back three a number of weeks ago, but his more favoured 4-2-3-1 over his career could come