CALLUM O’Dowda was not present when Oxford United flew out to Spain for their pre-season tour yesterday.

The winger missed the U’s opening pre-season match – a 1-1 draw at Solihull Moors on Saturday – with the club saying he is suffering from an illness.

There has been speculation over O’Dowda leaving the club this summer, but head coach Michael Appleton expects him to join up with the squad later in the week.

“If he has to miss the first couple of days because he’s a bit under the weather then that’s not a problem, we’re there for a week,” the U’s boss said.

He added: “Even as recently as Friday I spoke to him about building a team around him.

“From my point of view it’s very clear – we don’t want to sell Callum.

“We’re looking forward to him being a big part of our League One push this year.”

There were no new faces at check-in, but Appleton has not ruled out signings joining them during the week.

He said: “I’m hopeful during the week we’ll have one or two players who meet up with us.

“We’re talking about players I’ve already met and offers are in. We’re at the negotiating stage with very good offers.”

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