JOSH Ruffels says his best run of starts in the Oxford United side for two years has given him the confidence to get forward.

The midfielder from Kidlington has been in the XI for eight of the last ten games, scoring in the last two.

Ruffels, 23, has been determined to make the most of his opportunity to stake a claim in next season’s side, by showing he can offer more than being a safe pair of hands.

He said: “I’m just trying to enjoy it and add these goals to my game and keep pushing on.

“Me and Lunny (John Lundstram) can share the attacking, but I seem to be the one doing more of the forward running.

“I used to do it in my youth team days and I’m adding it to my game again.

“I haven’t really worked on it in training, it’s a natural progression with confidence from playing games.

“When you play the odd game here and there you are reluctant to do it, but having these games under my belt I feel like I can push on and make those runs.”