The 26-year-old looked good early in the season, but he was sidelined until December due to a hamstring injury sustained in the 3-1 victory at Barnsley on August 19.
He made his comeback to play at the start of December, when the U’s defeated Grimsby Town at home in the Emirates FA Cup second round.
But his comeback only lasted 12 minutes after he entered the game in the 68th, as a recurrence of his hamstring issue forced him to leave.
After coming on as a late substitute in the 2-0 victory at Port Vale on March 16, Browne has since started for Shrewsbury Town and Fleetwood Town, playing about 20 minutes and 30 minutes from the bench, respectively.
Des Buckingham, the head coach of United, said, “You could argue that could and should be this weekend,” in response to a question about how close Browne is to making his debut. It’s also important to consider the players in the positions he might go.
“When I look across the front line and the front three, you have Owen Dale, who opened his club account, Sparky [Mark Harris], who struck two on Monday, and Josh Murphy, who scored and assisted.
“It can get more challenging because we have three front players who are all performing.
He can substitute Mark Harris as that No. 9 and add a completely different dynamic to that play by dropping, protecting the ball, turning, and then running at players from a central area. “He’ll be a very big threat to us as we move forward into the next couple of games,” the coach said. “As he’s already shown, he can add a very different dynamic to that play.”
