OXFORD United players returning from injury may find the intensity in training ramp up as a new backroom staff member looks to boost fitness levels.

The U’s announced the appointment of Luke Taylor as head of athletic performance last week, as he marked a return to his roots.

Taylor, from Marston, helped establish a sports science department at United’s academy from 2011 to 2014, and boasts a wide range of experience on his CV.

He has worked as a physical performance coach at the FA, plus he spent time as a strength and conditioning coach in the New Zealand set-up, where he worked alongside U’s head coach Des Buckingham.

Last year saw Taylor take in a stint as a consultant strength and conditioning coach at Aston Villa, while also in his most recent job, which was as head of physical performance with the Wales Women team.

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Taylor said: “It’s really good to come back in and see some familiar faces, but the club is drastically different from when I was here 10 years ago.

“I’m coming in as head of athletic performance, to work alongside Shorty [Chris Short] and Dwayne [Peasah] from a sports science perspective, to really hone in on how we train every day, how we prepare for a one-game week or two-game week, and how we can work with each player individually to maximise their performance.”

Injuries have hampered United’s season, with key players such as Greg Leigh, Sam Long, Billy Bodin, Marcus Browne and Josh Murphy among those to have missed larger chunks of the campaign.

Taylor doesn’t see the problem as exclusive to the U’s, but hopes to find a way to get players back to full sharpness in a more seamless way.

He said: “If you look nationally, injuries have gone up everywhere. The demands of the game are greater and the intensity we’re playing at has drastically increased.

“We’re trying to maximise their ability to perform those high-intensity actions repeatedly.

“In terms of bringing players back, the intensity of the game has gone up, so we need to ensure that when we’re bringing a player back, they’re ready to play and not just have a bit part.

“You want to bring a player back and them be ready to go, so that means we need to expose them to really hard training levels on the training pitches, so when then they into a game, it’s an easier thing to do.

“We haven’t got a reserve team here, so that would be a great position for us to expose those players to match demands.

“We’re having to chuck lads on at times when the game is more frantic. We know the last 30 minutes of a game are more frantic and are at a higher intensity.”