ROB Hall believes Oxford United supporters will see him go up a gear next season as the winger eyes a trouble-free summer.

The 23-year-old is looking forward to a break at the end of a campaign which saw him get his career back on track.

United took a gamble on Hall last July when he was recovering from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

It kept him out until November, but he went on to start 21 of the next 23 games.

Wary of burning Hall out, the pacy wide man was used sparingly by head coach Michael Appleton in the final couple of months of the season.

Even so, he made 35 appearances – the best return of his career.

Hall admits it was a struggle at times, but is confident with a full pre-season under his belt he will come back stronger.

“I can only hope so,” he said.

“I have a break coming up now, so I will have two weeks where I will just chill out, but then we’ll be back in the gym.

“I will just try to tick over, make sure I stay injury-free.

“This year was good for me, especially to play so many games in a row.

“Then I had a little break and it was hard for me to get going again, but hopefully it makes me stronger for next season.”

Hall netted United’s final goal sealing their 2-0 win against Shrewsbury Town last Sunday.

It was his sixth strike, matching the best tally of his career, which was set during a loan spell with the U’s five seasons ago.

He said: “I missed a few chances to get to ten goals.

“That would have been a dream start, but I’m just happy to be playing football again.”

The win against the Shrews lifted Michael Appleton’s side to eighth position, four points adrift of the play-off places.

While it was the club’s highest finish for 18 seasons, Hall believes it should have been even better.

He said: “To be honest, we were kind of kicking ourselves because we know there were a few games we could’ve won or drawn when we didn’t.

“We’ve definitely thrown more than four points away this season.

“We are still quite a young group. Hopefully we will take it into next year and put it right.”