The current battle Oxford's Cameron Brannagan is winning which will please Portsmouth - despite recent rivalry

Oxford midfielder Cameron Brannagan has enjoyed plenty of battles with Pompey in recent years.
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He’s come out on top in his fair share of those contests, too – most recently scoring the winning penalty at the Kassam Stadium in July as the U’s ended the Blues’ promotion hopes via the play-offs.

Meanwhile, the 24-year-old has also ruffled a few feathers along the way, as the picture included shows as he squares up to Pompey’s Ronan Curtis.

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The two clubs are due to renew their rivalry in 10 days time when Karl Robinson’s side return to Fratton Park on Tuesday, November 24.

Revenge will be on the Blues’ players’ minds.

But, no doubt, they’ll also be wanting old-foe Brannagan to come out on top once more as he goes through a personal battle off the pitch.

The combative midfielder hasn’t featured for Oxford since they lost to Gillingham on October 10.

And he's unlikely to renew acquaintances with Curtis & Co at PO4 either as he continues to recover from an extremely rare eye condition that threatened to leave him blind.

Tempers flare between Cameron Brannagan and Ronan Curtis during last season's play-off semi-final second leg at the Kassam Stadium.  Picture: Robin Jones/Getty ImagesTempers flare between Cameron Brannagan and Ronan Curtis during last season's play-off semi-final second leg at the Kassam Stadium.  Picture: Robin Jones/Getty Images
Tempers flare between Cameron Brannagan and Ronan Curtis during last season's play-off semi-final second leg at the Kassam Stadium. Picture: Robin Jones/Getty Images
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Thankfully some quick thinking from staff at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford helped save the sight in his right eye, while his left continues to improve thanks to a course of steroids.

But speaking to The Oxford Mail, the 24-year-old said ‘panic was setting in’ as doctors tried to determine what was going on.

Brannagan, who had to withdraw early from an in-house game after suffering from blurred vision, said: ‘I closed my right eye and my mum said to me “can you see me with your left eye?”

‘I said I couldn’t see her at all. When I could see my mum was upset like that it made me a little bit worse.

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‘Football didn’t come into my mind. I was thinking “this could be really serious”.

‘That Friday was the longest night of my life.’

He added: ‘When I went back to see the specialist panic was setting in, my head was so gone.

‘She said we’ve got a good feeling it is inflammation (rather than an infection) and a weight came off my shoulders.

‘She said “I think we’ve saved your right eye”. I was thinking “that’s brilliant, I can’t thank you enough”.

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‘I’m going to do something for the hospital and the eye consultancy.

‘I owe them so much.’

Since avoiding surgery and getting good news from a check up early this week, Brannagan has returned to training but is not allowed close contact with anyone until the end of the mont,h when his course of steroids has been completed.

Oxford will, no doubt, be looking forward to welcoming him back with the U's currently 21st in the table.

However, in these instances, football pales into insignificance.

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‘It was a race against time,’ the Liverpudlian told The Oxford Mail.

‘If I hadn’t been called back in on the Friday and I’d left it until the Monday she said I would have been blind in my right eye.’

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