SHANDON Baptiste has been taken to hospital with a suspected dislocated shoulder.

The midfielder was forced off in the 40th minute of the goalless draw at Bristol Rovers, leaving Oxford United sweating on the diagnosis.

And boss Karl Robinson revealed after the game Baptiste had suffered a similar, less serious, problem during training this week.

He said: "Shandon’s been rushed to hospital.

"It didn’t 100 per cent come out on Thursday, so it got put back in.

"I don’t know the extent of it today, we just hope he’s OK and we’ll see how it goes."

It is the last thing United need, with Jon Obika this week ruled out for the season with a knee injury and a back problem sidelining Ricky Holmes for several days.

The contest at the Memorial Stadium was one of two contrasting halves.

United had the best of the first half, with Baptiste coming the closest to breaking the deadlock via a shot which was cleared off the line.

But Rovers hit back strongly after the break and will feel they should have taken maximum points.

Their best spell saw Simon Eastwood make a stunning save to turn Tom Nichols's shot on to the crossbar.

The U's goalkeeper said: "It’s nice to get a clean sheet.

"It was a little bit different last week against Plymouth (a 2-0 win), when I didn’t have too much to do, but it feels nice to keep a clean sheet when I was a little bit busier today.

"As a back five we’ve done well over the last couple of games."

Centre back Rob Dickie added: "It was a tough one and I think we’re all proud to come through it with a clean sheet.

"We had quite a few chances in the first half and could have won it, but you can’t argue with a point and a clean sheet away from home.

"We can all admit it wasn’t the prettiest of performances in the second half, but we got the job done and kept the clean sheet."