Oxford United goalkeeper Simon Eastwood is ready to return to action today as the U’s welcome Rotherham United to the Kassam Stadium.
The 30-year-old has been sidelined since November with a knee injury, where the club brought in Jordan Archer on a short term deal.
When Eastwood was sidelined last season, the club struggled for results but the U’s number one has acknowledged that the team is a lot stronger this time around.
Eastwood told the Oxford Mail: “I didn’t really doubt it.
“Last season’s team wasn’t as good as this one so I thought we’d keep pushing up, which we have. I’ve been wanting to play for a couple of weeks.
“I thought I could have played in the FA Cup game last weekend, but me and Cameron (Brannagan) have the same injury and it’s quite a strange one.
“I’m still feeling it now but it’s an ache. It’s not that bad and the physios say it’s going to happen.”
Three of the four new U’s signings could feature today against the side that sits second in League One, before another tough test against Ipswich Town on Tuesday night.
Eastwood added “We’ve got a couple of big weeks coming up, but in a couple of weeks we’ll be saying the same thing.
“If we stay where we are then we’ll be saying ‘Saturday is massive’ every week.
“They are two massive games to see where we could be. If we won both we’d be absolutely flying.
“We beat Rotherham at their place, so if we drew with them it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But then again, clubs will be coming to Oxford thinking they’d take a draw.
“It’s testament to how well we’ve done at home this season. It’s up to us to keep going and not coming off the gas.”
