Cambridge United midfielder Shane McLoughlin ruled out until December with calf injury suffered in 3-1 win over Crawley Town

Cambridge United will have to make do without the services of Shane McLoughlin until December.

The midfielder, who joined the U’s during the summer from Newport County, has been sidelined by a calf injury that he suffered during the 3-1 victory over Crawley Town earlier this month.

“Shane has got a calf issue and he’s going to be missing for the foreseeable future,” confirmed Cambridge head coach Neil Harris. “It will probably be up until mid-December at least.

“It was completely out of the blue. It’s really disappointing for us.”

Harris also confirmed that striker Louis Appere is still another two to three weeks away from returning after a follow up scan to the hamstring injury that he suffered in September.

However, in more positive news, Dom Ball and Ben Knight have returned to training this week and should be in contention to be part of the squad for this Saturday’s home encounter against Bromley.

Both players missed last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Shrewsbury Town with knee and groin issues respectively.

Ben Purrington is also available, having been left out for the trip to Croud Meadow.