KYLE Joseph hopes to use his two-month injury layoff as an opportunity to improve after making an immediate impact on his return to first team action.

The Swansea City loanee has been out with an ankle injury after being stretchered off following a challenge on him in the first half of the 1-1 draw at Shrewsbury Town on November 9.

Joseph showed Oxford United what they have been missing against Fleetwood Town, when he scored a brilliant solo goal just moments after coming off the bench.

Having just replaced Yanic Wildschut, the 21-year-old collected the ball on the right wing, cut inside left back Danny Andrew and made a surge towards the penalty area.

Once he got there, he evaded the challenge of Josh Earl and fired past Jay Lynch with a left-footed strike.

Discussing his time out of the team, Joseph said after United’s 2-1 win at Fleetwood: “It’s been tough, initially it didn’t really hit me until the first week being inside while the lads were training.

“It’s been quite repetitive with early mornings and long nights.

“It was tough but it helps build you mentally, you’ve got to be strong through it and look at is as a positive rather than a negative.

“I looked it as an opportunity to improve on where I was lacking and could get better at.”

Asked what the future holds next season when his loan with the U’s will have expired, Joseph responded: “Oxford have looked after me really well, they’ve always kept their eye on me.

“The gaffer’s been amazing with me, he’s looked after me and kept me in the group, and kept me going.

“It was my choice to stay here, I love being here and I love being with the lads.

“I’ve enjoyed coming in every day, even when I’ve been injured.

“They’ve kept me positive and I think it’s testament to how strong the group character is and the togetherness.

“I’m taking it day by day, that’s all you can do.

“You never know what can happen in football, it can change like that so it’s about taking it day by day.”

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Joseph added: “I’ve got to make up for lost time, I want to impact as much as I can the time I’m on the pitch – that’s the main thing for me.”

United went into the half-time break 1-0 down at Fleetwood, after Brendan Wiredu gave the hosts a lead they richly deserved.

Joseph said: “The first half wasn’t good enough, everyone knows that.

“We were flat and didn’t have any energy.

“We knew we needed to bring that into the game and in the second half, we showed it.

“It’s up to us now, we’ve got to start games like that – we can’t pick and choose when we show energy.

“We’ve got to start games like that and finish games like that.

“You see in this league, you get punished for it very easily.”

After Joseph got the U’s back into the game with his equaliser, Ciaron Brown scored the winner just as six minutes of stoppage time were signalled.

It capped a challenging week for Brown, whose booking in the Emirates FA Cup defeat against Arsenal is being investigated due to alleged spot-fixing.

On Brown’s goal at Fleetwood, Joseph said: “It was a top quality moment for Ciaron, he’s a top lad and he’s been strong all week.

“With what’s going on, we all fully support him.”