Josh Ruffels is hoping he can hold on to his place in the Oxford United side for the clash with Cheltenham Town tomorrow after admitting his second season at the club has been tougher than last year.
The 21-year-old made 35 appearances during 2013/14 and featured prominently in the opening weeks of this campaign.
Ruffels started 11 of United’s first 12 games, but went almost two months without playing until he returned last month.
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The midfielder replaced Danny Rose in Sunday’s 2-1 win at Plymouth and is keen for contribute more often between now and May.
He said: “The first season I got a lot of appearances that maybe I wasn’t really expecting.
“I’ve spoken to people before and they’ve said the second season is always harder than the first, if you do well.
“I’ve just had to keep my head down. Whingy (Andy Whing) and Rosie have done really well of course, so it’s been difficult.
“They’ve been pretty strong in there so I’ve just had to bide my time and hope I can push on a little bit in the second half of the season.”
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