RYAN Williams will be relieved at the return to normality when Oxford United begin pre-season tomorrow.

The U’s are back at the training ground as they take their first steps towards the Sky Bet League One opener at Cambridge United on Saturday, August 7.

The football calendar reverts to a more recognisable form after the condensed 2020/21 campaign, when United played 25 midweek games.

Williams had a similar schedule with League One rivals Portsmouth, who he left for the U’s earlier this month.

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The Australian winger made 49 appearances last season, but admits he would have found it tough to do it again.

He said: “You weren’t even training, you were just recovering.

“After midweek away matches, you’d get home at 3 or 4 in the morning.

“In terms of injuries I had one that kept me out for five days, so I was extremely lucky.

“I thought it was quite dangerous for the players if I’m being totally honest, so if we were to do that again I don’t know how many players would get injured.

“Now you can work properly during the week and train hard, but also the physical side of things in terms of getting your physical condition in the gym so you can maintain the top level of physical performance in every single game that you play.”

Like many of United’s players, this will also be Williams’s first proper pre-season since 2019.

The U’s beat Portsmouth in last season’s later League One play-off semi-finals in July, with both teams back in training barely a month later.

Both clubs had to recover from falling short in 2019/20 to go again within weeks and Williams admitted it took its toll.

He said: “It’s been tough for me as a footballer, and I’m sure anyone at Oxford would say the same thing.

“We were playing Saturday-Tuesday every week and with Portsmouth being so far away on the south coast we were travelling away and getting back late.

“As a family it was difficult, you can’t do the things you’ve been able to do.

“We’ve dealt with it like everyone has though, I’m in an extremely fortunate position where I’ve been able to keep my job.”