Head coach Neil Harris has insisted that Louis Appere continues to have a ‘huge value’ within his Cambridge United squad.

Following his arrival at the Cledara Abbey Stadium in July 2025 from Stevenage, the Scottish striker spearheaded the attack as Cambridge secured automatic promotion from League Two last term.

Appere made a total of 44 appearances – 36 starts – across all competitions, scoring eight goals in the process.

However, after starting United’s first three matches back in League One at the beginning of the current campaign, the 27-year-old has since had to settle for cameo appearances off the bench after falling down the pecking order behind Gassan Ahadme and Shayne Lavery.

Nevertheless, Appere has still been able to prove his worth. After scoring the only goal of the game in the opening-day victory over Wigan Athletic, he also played a key role in the winning goals against Bradford City and, more recently, Barnsley.

And Harris has stressed that the forward remains an important member of the group.

Harris said: “I’m sure when Gassan came in during the summer, and Louis was in and out of the team towards the end of August and the transfer window was still open, there was a lot of interest in him because he was such an important player for us last season.

“But he continues to be a really important player for us, whether that’s from the start or off the bench. His personality, his character, and his training standards are just so high.

“The way he plays the game, he’s so infectious. We talk about Lavs’ ability to change the game because he’s a top player, but Louie plays the game in a different way to Shayne. He has the energy to press and hassle centre-halves, he has the ability to stretch play and create something out of nothing, just with pure energy and hard work and desire to get us up the pitch.

“It’s really important, and no-one – including Louis – should think that because Gassan has had a strong start and we’ve brought him in during the summer that he’ll play every minute of every game. That’s certainly not the case.

“I've got two out-and-out number nines that are very competitive. They both want to play, they both want to score goals, and I think they complement each other from the start or off the bench in any given game. And when you put Lavs into the mix and Callum Stead when he’s fit, we feel like we’ve got a real blend of nines to play up there.

“But Louis’ importance is huge, and I can’t talk any more passionately about him than I am. I’m proud of him over the last 15 months.

“He will get questioned by the fans, and you guys (the press) have asked me before about whether he could do this and that. I totally understand it, everyone expects the number nine jersey to score goal after goal. That happens with some number nines, but not loads of them in modern-day football.

“Louis is a team player, first and foremost, and it’s about Louis Appere second. Players like that have always got a huge value in my squad.”