STEPHAN Negru has been ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury.

The Oxford United defender went for a scan on Thursday afternoon, after being forced off during the closing stages of the midweek win at Forest Green Rovers in the EFL Trophy.

The results of that scan have revealed that the 21-year-old will miss the busy festive period, having been ruled out of action for six weeks.

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U’s head coach Des Buckingham said: “Hopefully he’ll be back on the pitch and fit, we’ve been told anything between three or four weeks, and then it should be six weeks to get him in match contention.”

The news comes as a blow for United, who are already without Negru’s defensive colleagues Greg Leigh and Sam Long due to calf and ankle injuries respectively.

Meanwhile, wingers Marcus Browne and Kyle Edwards have also been sidelined until the new year, both like Negru suffering from hamstring injuries.

Buckingham was however slightly more optimistic on Ruben Rodrigues, who hobbled off with 20 minutes to go in the 3-0 defeat at Peterborough United yesterday.

“I think it’s a dead leg from what I’ve seen. Hopefully he’s okay because we can’t lose any more,” Buckingham said directly after the loss against the Posh.