Cambridge United might be without one of their leading goalscorers when they face Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday evening.

Cambridge United head coach Neil Harris has confirmed that he could be without striker Gassan Ahadme for Tuesday night’s League One clash with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Ahadme, 25, was a surprise omission from the squad for Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at the Cledara Abbey Stadium, with U’s boss Harris confirming after the match that the striker had suffered an adductor injury.

The former Burton Albion man has been a key player for Cambridge so far this season since arriving on loan from Charlton Athletic during the summer, scoring four goals in 11 appearances across all competitions. Only fellow attacker Ben Knight, who has scored five goals, has found the net more often than Ahadme for the U’s so far this season.

Although Harris is optimistic that the issue that forced Ahadme to miss the defeat to Argyle will not keep him sidelined for too long, he has admitted that the trip to Hillsborough could come too soon for the Charlton loanee to feature.

As quoted by the Cambridge Independent, Harris said: “It’s a groin/hip injury. We’re confident it’s not going to be long, but we’ll have to be respectful of it as well.

“It’s unfortunate it’s come at a time when we’ve got a lot of games quickly. Whether he’s back for Tuesday, we’ll have to see, but we don’t expect him to be out long.”

Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Plymouth marked Cambridge’s first defeat in their last nine League One outings, with their only previous league defeat this season coming at the hands of Huddersfield Town, who beat them 2-1 on August 29.

Still unbeaten away from home in league and cup competitions this season, Harris’ side have collected nine points from their first five away games in League One, winning two and drawing three. They secured a 2-1 victory in South Yorkshire last weekend, coming from behind to beat Barnsley at Oakwell.

The U’s have lost their last two visits to Hillsborough by an aggregate score of 11-0, meaning they will be hoping to avoid another heavy defeat this time around and take advantage of Wednesday’s recent struggles.