Injuries have disrupted Martin Ling's preparations for the match against Gateshead on Saturday.
The U's take on the Heed at the R Costings Abbey Stadium tomorrow, but manager Ling will be without midfielder Adam Miller and defender Kevin Roberts, both of whom face long spells on the sidelines.
"Injuries have crept in - Kevin Roberts looks likely to be out for 4 - 6 weeks with a hamstring injury, and with Adam Miller it's going to be weeks rather than days too," said Ling.
"We haven't been able to assess his injury properly yet as the bruising and swelling haven't gone down, but it's not looking good. It's a good job for us that Rory McAuley (below) came through his first 90 minutes ok and is available, as he can cover both right back and central midfield.
"We had six games in August, and there are another six coming up in September, but the good thing is that they are a bit more spread out this month. It's been a bit of a rush, but now the players will have more recovery time between matches," he said.
There were comings and goings at United ahead of Tuesday's transfer deadline, and Ling said he will not move to bring in a loanee unless his squad is depleted further.
He said: "I think we're ok at the moment in terms of cover, but if we get a couple more injuries, or Paul Carden's ongoing ankle problem worsens, we'll look at getting someone in.
"I've already identified a couple of players who I would like in that scenario, one right back and one midfielder, but we're fine as we are at the moment."
Defender Dave Partridge returns to the squad for tomorrow's match, and if he finds the net you can enjoy a free Big Ass Burrito at Nanna Mexicos restaurant in Cambridge. If Dave scores at any point in the Gateshead match, simply take your matchday programme along to the restaurant to qualify.
Ling spoke to the media yesterday from the offices of the Cambridge Building Society, who are sponsoring the South Stand Initiative again this season. Youngsters from Cambourne have been invited to tomorrow's game and will be filling the South Stand, hoping to see the U's record their second win of the season.
On opponents Gateshead, he commented: "I've got the report on Gateshead, and there are some good names in their squad. They've gone full time this year, which should help them push on, and I see them being a solid bottom half team this season rather than one which is in a relegation scrap.
"A lot of teams that come down here play 4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1 and shut up shop, and I don't expect Gateshead to be any different. We got the early goal against Eastbourne which was good because it forced them to come out at us, and when teams do that I feel we can hurt them with our pace and on the counter-attack.
"We know a lot of teams will be defensive and we need to find ways to deal with that."
Adding that he expects better results from his team in the coming weeks, the manager concluded: "If you look at the first month I feel we haven't got our just desserts in terms of points.
"But it's no good just to keep to saying that, we need to improve and if we get 12 points in September I'll be quite happy.
"I feel if you can pick up two points a game you'll be there or there abouts at the top of the table, you can see that even at this early stage.
"We've got that first win now which is pleasing, but we need to back that up with another result this Saturday," he said.
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