SIGNING Rob Hall now looks like a no-brainer for Oxford United, but Michael Appleton believes the winger’s successful return from a serious knee injury would not have happened at every club.

Signing a player in July midway through recovering from a ruptured cruciate knee ligament was a risk.

United knew they were getting a player who had the quality to thrive in the Sky Bet Championship – if he could get back to his pre-injury form.

The gamble has so far paid off handsomely and Hall will be one of United’s chief threats when he lines up against old club MK Dons tomorrow.

A stunning winner against Swindon Town last weekend has been the highlight, but his run of 18 starts in 20 games since returning to the side is just as remarkable.

While Hall has done the hard work, Appleton thinks the credit should be shared with his backroom staff.

“We work very hard in the pre-hab stuff off the field,” he said.

“That’s why we invest in the staff.

“It was the same when I was at West Brom, just on a bigger scale.

“There we signed three or four lads who had failed medicals at other clubs due to injuries we felt with a lot of pre-hab and the right care would be OK.

“With Robbie, Procs (physio Andrew Proctor) had a look at him and he was more than happy we could get him in a good place.”

But Appleton does not think Hall would have come back so strongly at every club.

He said: “Absolutely. I’ve got to be careful what I’m saying, but there’s a lot of other clubs who don’t take the due care and attention in terms of the pre-hab and rehab as we do.”

United’s sports science and medical departments will really earn their corn between now and April.

Saturday’s game is the first of 13 in 43 days – almost a third of a league season in six weeks.

“I’ve already spoken to Procs and the sports science lads and said this is as busy a period as we’ll be in,” the head coach said.

“The fact we’ve got a 61-game season lined up already and it could potentially be more is pretty scary.

“Everyone’s going to have to be at it.

“This week has been about tapering down to get ready for all systems go from Saturday.”

Significantly, the return from injury of defenders Christian Ribeiro and Sam Long means the treatment room is as quiet it has been for months.

Only long-term absentees Wes Thomas and Aaron Martin are missing and keeping players fit will be crucial to hopes of a strong finish.

Appleton typically looks to field a settled side, but he has already briefed the players that the congested schedule will mean a change in selection policy.

He said: “The key thing is I stay transparent with players about what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.

“I’ve sown the seed in their minds already and we’ll have to look after players and that may mean leaving someone out.

“They might be thinking ‘I played quite well in the last game, what’s going on?’

“But it’s for their own benefit because over the next few games we’ll get more out of them.

“It’s a massive balancing act.”