{"id":437337,"date":"2019-05-15T15:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T19:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonfootball.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=437337"},"modified":"2020-12-28T11:33:57","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T16:33:57","slug":"oxford-uniteds-shandon-baptiste-passed-fit-ahead-of-pre-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2019\/05\/15\/oxford-uniteds-shandon-baptiste-passed-fit-ahead-of-pre-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford United’s Shandon Baptiste Passed Fit Ahead of Pre-Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The recovery of Oxford United’s<\/a> Shandon Baptiste<\/a> from injury is ahead of schedule and he is likely to participate in pre-season.<\/p>\n

The midfielder, who began the season brightly, has suffered two long-term injuries<\/a> this campaign.<\/p>\n

Shandon Baptiste Passed Fit Ahead of Pre-Season<\/h1>\n

Proud History, Bright Future<\/h1>\n

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes at Oxford, with the construction of a new training ground<\/a>\u00a0and wealthy board members<\/a>, but the youth that is coming through the system is also a big positive.<\/p>\n

None more so than Shandon Baptiste<\/a>. The 21-year-old midfielder exploded onto the scene this season, putting in some big performances to impress the manager and fans alike.<\/p>\n

Baptiste featured just nine times for the U’s this season, and also received a red card in a 2-1 home defeat against Luton Town<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As well, captained the side<\/a> in the U’s 3-0 defeat at home in the Carabao Cup<\/a> against eventual winners\u00a0Manchester City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, after missing eleven weeks with a dislocated shoulder, the youngster then ruptured his cruciate ligaments just six minutes into his comeback appeance.<\/p>\n

Having already progressed ahead of schedule, Karl Robinson<\/a> could see the youngster return in time for pre-season.<\/p>\n

Baptiste told the Oxford Mail<\/a>: \u201cIn a bad situation they said it was a good time to get injured because I can play the majority of next season and I\u2019d be able to do a lot of work with the team in pre-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully I\u2019ll be running and doing some of the sessions with the team. To do that will just make me a bit happier and it will seem like the injury is moving a bit quicker.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the summer I\u2019m in three or four times a week just to keep on top of the work and keep improving.<\/p>\n

“To be fair I don\u2019t mind because I want to be ready for next season. I will do anything I can to help that, so my summer is going to be a bit busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mental Attitude on Oxford Injury List<\/h2>\n

Baptiste also added that being sidelined was difficult, but having company in the likes of Jon Obika<\/a> and Rob Hall<\/a> made things easier.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cBeeks (Obika) and Hally being out with the same injury really helped me to stay positive and keep working hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout them there would have been some long days. Even now I\u2019ve got some long days ahead of me, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cJordan Graham<\/a> was a big help because every day he would come into the physio room and ask me how my knee was feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever I replied he had been through it before (in 2016) and gave some advice, so he was a really big help. He was out for 14 months but has just played a whole Season. It shows if you do everything properly you can come back stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a>