ANTHONY Forde is bidding to become more of a leader for Oxford United after returning to his favoured position.

A serious chest injury in the middle of last season heavily disrupted the 26-year-old’s maiden campaign with the U’s.

But having joined as a wide midfielder, Forde has become a key player for the side in the middle of the park.

The Irishman will certainly be an important figure at Fleetwood Town today, as Karl Robinson’s side look to improve a record of just two wins in seven Sky Bet League One games so far.

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In what is a young team in some areas, Forde’s 286 career appearances make him one of the most experienced in the line-up.

And becoming more of a vocal presence on the pitch is an aim.

He said: “Definitely, I’ve tried to improve that in my game as well and help the other lads out.

“I’ll try to improve on that as I continue my career.

“The more games I play that comes as well.

“If it’s helping the younger lads out with little things, I’ll do my best to do that.”

Playing in centre midfield will help his communication and while recent seasons have mainly been spent on the right flank, it is not a surprise to Forde.

He said: “I played there a lot when I was younger and then moved wide when I got towards the first team.

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“I always felt that I would move back into the middle, where I feel it suits me better.

“I feel like that’s my best position.

“I feel like I can affect the game more and be more involved.”

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers trainee has been one of the stand-out performers for United so far.

But any satisfaction over individual displays is outweighed by the side’s struggle at the wrong end of the table.

“It’s nice when you play well, but when you get a bad result it ruins that,” Forde said.

“It’s really little things we need to sharpen up on.

“That’s when we’ll get our good results, because our performances have been quite good.”