Northampton Town defender Raheem Hanley featured as a trialist for Oxford United in a pre-season friendly tonight, the club has confirmed.

The 23-year-old featured for 25 minutes after coming on as a substitute in the U’s thrilling 4-3 defeat to Championship side Brentford.

After Oxford had been tweeting about Hanley playing for them, the Cobblers swiftly moved to confirm they had given the left back permission to go on trial with the team.

Hanley has made just one appearance for Northampton since he was signed from Premier League club Swansea City by former manager Rob Page last summer.

And that outing was as a substitute in a 3-0 loss to Wycombe Wanderers in the much criticised EFL Trophy competition.

It seems Hanley’s short stay at Sixfields could be coming to an end, but much could depend on how much he has impressed his potential new employers.

Hanley, who can also play in midfielder, was a product of the Manchester United youth academy, before coming through the ranks at Blackburn Rovers.

He eventually joined Swansea City in 2014, but two years later he had still failed to make a senior appearance for any club so he joined Northampton in search of first team football which has still not arrived.