Brabin: Cambridge can mount a challenge this year

The ninth-placed U’s are one of the form teams in the division, having gone seven games without defeat, winning four of them, including a 2-0 victory over Darlington on Saturday.

They visit Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night and Brabin said: “There’s a lot of competition this year. I think everyone has seen from the two previous promotions, with Crawley and Stevenage, how well they’ve done and I think everyone is having a good go at it this year.

“It’s a very competitive league, it has always has been and Cambridge can be one of them.

“They’ve got a good fanbase, they’re a good club and they’ll want to be up there. They’ve had a disappointing last couple of years, so they’ll want to get back up there challenging.

“We’re aware of their strengths, but for me, we will concentrate on ourselves.

“All the games in this league are tough and I genuinely believes it’s about us.”

Brabin has some interesting selection choices ahead of the encounter, with leading scorer Amari Morgan-Smith, who has netted seven times, available after his suspension on Saturday,

The boss said: “I think Amari has done really well. He’s taken on board what we’ve said to him, he’s getting back to basics, working hard in training and getting his reward.

“He’s definitely been a goal threat for us this season.”

Midfielder Alex Lawless misses out after breaking his hand during the interval at Bootham Crescent on Saturday, an incident for which he has been fined by the club.

John Paul Kissock should be available, while defender Curtis Osano is nearing a recall, but Brabin confirmed George Pilkington and Shane Blackett will need some kind of match action before they can be included.

He said: “Again we’ve got another hectic Monday morning schedule, so I’ll have a bit of an update, but the only one definitely out is Alex Lawless.

“Curtis is one of the ones we’re having a look at. I’m always hopeful, but the big plus for me is in the last week, we’ve seen some big players on the training ground.

“That’s a big plus. With the games coming thick and fast, I just want to get them back involved in the squad.

“I think you’ve got to be sensible. They’ve been some lengthy injuries and the likes of George Pilkington and Shane Blackett will certainly will need some minutes under their belts before returning to action.

“The likes of Curtis, although it’s been three weeks, he’s played a lot of games this year, so hopefully when he’s fit he can come through a full training session and be available.”

The immediate prognosis isn’t so good for Dan Gleeson though as Brabin continued: “I think he’s probably further away at the moment, it’s looking at least another three or four weeks for him.”

After former striker Jason Walker netted against Luton on Saturday in a man of the match performance, Brabin is hoping his ex-Cambridge players Robbie Willmott and Danny Crow have a similar effect tomorrow night.

He added: “We’ve got a few ex-Cambridge lads here. It’s always good to play against your former club, so I’m sure they’ll be up for that.

“We’ve just got to get back to the things we’ve been doing right and hopefully bounce back with a good positive result from Saturday’s performance.”

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