OXFORD United manager Darren Patterson says he is determined not to rush players back from injury too soon.

He has been boosted by the sight of Rob Duffy playing 70 minutes of a friendly at Aldershot this week and fellow striker Gary Twigg making his return to training.

But the Ulsterman wants to be sure they are ready before throwing them into first-team action in the league.

The U's take on Ebbsfleet United at the Kassam Stadium tomorrow in Patterson's first league game in charge, and he was still working until late last night on trying to bring a player in for that game.

That follows Stefan Bailey's return to QPR this week following his month on loan from QPR.

Eddie Hutchinson and Chris Willmott also featured in the behind-closed-doors practice match at the Recreation Ground on Tuesday, but the new boss will be cautious about rushing back any player until he looks right.

"We'll see, " he stated at yesterday's press conference when asked about returning players. "Some of them trained today but we'll wait and see.

"One thing I'm not going to do, and what we had to do really, is rush some of them back, and we've not been fair to them. A lot haven't had games and they've been having to get fit in the full glare of first-team football, which isn't fair really, but that's the situation we've been in.

"I don't want to put anybody in unless they're right. It's not fair on them and it's not fair on us as a football team.

"If you're not 100 per cent fit, there's no point in us trying to push you, it's only going to increase the chances of getting injured again and you're not going to play at the full capacity. I'd rather bring the rest of the squad, even the youth team up, to have a look at them.

"Duffy was a real bonus this week, because we weren't expecting him to be able to play for another couple of weeks. It's fantastic on his behalf that he's shown the willingness to go through it with us, and from the physio staff to get him fit and ready ahead of schedule."

Patterson says he has thoroughly enjoyed his first full week at the helm, and he has already made some changes in training and in timings, with an emphasis too on getting players to enjoy their football.

"We'll be training a little bit earlier on a Friday and doing double sessions now on the Tuesday. And we've got a couple of different ideas, more fun-based, to get smiles on people's faces.

"We're also doing some injury-prevention work three times a week before we train in our gym/cafeteria. It isn't ideal, but that's what we're using.

"They're just little things we've introduced to get habit-forming, which will hopefully help us in the long run."

Further friendly matches, to help those players returning from injuries, will take place, though not next week because United have an FA Youth Cup tie.

Patterson has been to watch matches this week - he and Jim Smith went together to Brighton to look at a couple of players he had previously identified - and the job's heavy workload means he has almost waved goodbye to his family!

"I said to my wife . . . see you in June!" he laughed.

"I've learned that it's a 24/7 job . . . you're constantly on the phone, you're constantly thinking about how to improve, not only in training but your system, your players, everything, day in, day out, but I've enjoyed every second of it so far.

"In training all the players have been outstanding, from the senior pros to the young kids.

"We got beat in midweek, the score was irrelevant, but we played some real good stuff. And not only was the senior pros' attitude excellent but the young kids came up and showed a healthy respect but no fear, which is really important.

"That's great for me because, if the injury crisis stays as it is, then I've got no problems about putting them in. They showed passion and pride, it was terrific."