Oxford United head coach Des Buckingham has revealed that Kyle Edwards will continue his rehabilitation from injury by playing for the under-21s this week.
The 26-year-old joined the U’s on a season-long loan deal from Ipswich Town last summer. The move was made permanent in January, where he penned a short-term contract until the end of the campaign. However, the winger’s time at the Kassam Stadium was plagued by injury and he made just six appearances in all competitions.
Despite being out of contract, Oxford supported Edwards throughout his recovery. He was allowed to remain with the team during pre-season and eventually signed another short-term deal which will run until January. Speaking last week, Buckingham claimed that the thought of him playing against his team was what convinced him to keep him at the club:
“I haven’t seen too much of Kyle while I’ve been here,” he said, via The Herald Series. “I arrived in November, and he played all of 25 minutes against Cheltenham and 45 minutes against Bolton.
“We’ve now built him up in a way that we feel we can hopefully keep him on the pitch. It’s been a bit of a longer process, and the one thing I would’ve hated to see, knowing how we want to play, is a player of his quality and skillset, walk out of the building fully fit and ready to go, and walk into another team, and potentially play against us.”
The former West Bromwich Albion man made his long-awaited return to action yesterday when he was introduced as a late substitute in the 2-1 defeat against Bristol City. It was his first appearance since November and Buckingham revealed after the game that Edwards will feature for the under-21 team this week in order to build up further minutes:
“He’s trained fully for three weeks after a gruelling 10 months of a rehab programme,” the 39-year-old told The Oxford Mail.
“We purposefully managed it in a way that if we could get him fit, we’d keep a space to allow him to come in because we know the type of player he is and can be for us.
“It’s a milestone for him, and a bit of confidence. He’ll play on Tuesday in an Under-21s game at the training ground to get more minutes into him, and to ready him now for trying to stay in.”
Yesterday’s loss ended a run of two successive victories for the League One play-off winners. They’ll look to return to winning ways next weekend when they host Burnley at the Kassam Stadium.
Writer’s View
It’s impossible to know how much of an impact Edwards will have at Oxford. He started last season in excellent fashion, scoring twice and contributing one assist in his first four games. However, with so long out of the game, it will be interesting to see if he can return the same player.
Des Buckingham has been sensible in his approach. Taking his time and easing him back into action will hopefully see the U’s reap the rewards, whilst having a player who has vast Championship experience could prove to be a difference maker throughout the season. For Edwards, the priority will be playing regularly once again and securing a longer deal once his current one expires in the New Year.
Head of Writing
