There was one fantastic moment during Saturday’s game against Doncaster Rovers where the Oxford fans rose to their feet to welcome back Rob Hall.
A cameo appearance from the bench was a significant step forward for the winger who has missed almost the whole season with a knee injury.
“After about 75 minutes, when I knew there was a chance I was going to be coming on, the Gaffer asked me if I was nervous, and I was because it has been a long long journey for me, a lot harder than anything I have faced in my life” Rob said with characteristic honesty to iFollow after the game. ”Over the last few months I just felt helpless and bored for lots of the time so you focus and try and find the strength to look for the end of the tunnel.
“Hopefully I am close to the end of that tunnel now. I’m not going to say I am through because we all know what happened last year but it was just good to get back out there again. I’m not one hundred percent yet but I still feel I did OK; I had a few touches and it felt good although I lost it once when I shouldn’t have done!”
The former West Ham, Bolton and MK Dons forward wasn’t about to get carried away after one game but there was a real sense of determination as he spoke about his return:
“It got to the stage when I said to my girlfriend the night before that I didn’t even care how I played so long as I got back out there because you just want people to know you are still alive, if that makes sense? You want to show people that you are still able to do what you used to do every week, so I was happy with everything.
“It’s just another step in the right direction. It’s nothing to get too excited about or carried away. A few of the boys have got a few days off now before Luton but I know I won’t. I’ll be in on Monday and happy to be training again; anything to keep me ticking over right now.”
See the full interview plus highlights, all in iFollow.