“WHENEVER you get a chance you’ve got to try to make an impact, because you don’t know when your next one is going to come along.”

For James Roberts, it took 18 months.

While there have been a handful of Checkatrade Trophy appearances, his late cameo to help run down the clock at Bristol Rovers on Saturday was the striker’s first league game for Oxford United since April 2016.

Roberts’s story is familiar to most.

Bursting on to the scene as an 18-year-old, he scored five goals in eight appearances to lift Michael Appleton’s first campaign in charge.

It would have been inconceivable to anyone watching that he would still be waiting for goal No 6 in October 2017, but injuries and the death of his younger brother Ben took their toll.

A series of loans in non-league failed to reignite Roberts’s form and with his contract expiring next summer, some will have felt his time at United would quietly fizzle out.

But boss Pep Clotet has kept him around and fitness issues elsewhere in the attacking unit have opened the door, which made making his League One debut a special moment.

“It’s been a while,” Roberts said.

“There have been external and internal factors, but it was great to be back out there, especially with a win.

“Obviously with injuries at the moment I’ve got a chance to be in the squad to come on and I just want to make the most of it.”

One thing hasn’t changed – Roberts is an engaging and frank interviewee.

He is aware a solitary substitute appearance means little and it is a long road back to scaling the heights of his breakthrough campaign.

But it will not stop the 21-year-old giving everything to try.

He said: “Times change, don’t they? I had a bad time of it outside and inside football.

“As long as you can be mentally strong, keep your head up and keep believing in yourself there’s no reason you can’t take a bad stretch and turn it into a good one.

“I’ve always had confidence in myself, even when I wasn’t scoring and I wasn’t playing so great. Thankfully it seems to be paying off.”

He added: “I’ve been working hard in training and the gaffer has kept talking to me.

“The team are very supportive as well, it’s a unit.

“It’s not just the XI or the 18 and that helps your confidence because if they’re all with you in training, you know when you go on the pitch they will be with you as well.”

A youth team product becoming a first team regular always goes down well on the terraces.

But the difficult path Roberts has trodden to get back into the frame means a return to form would be more popular than most.

He said: “Any fan wants to see a young player who has come up through the ranks play in the first team and score goals.

“It was the same with Callum (O’Dowda), (Josh) Ashby and loads of others.

“I know the support is there.

“Supporters are very loyal and they stand by players and teams through thick and thin.

“It’s really good to have because when I came on the pitch I got a really good ovation from the fans at Bristol.

“It gives you confidence when you know they are behind you.”