David Stockdale is ready for 90 minutes after returning from injury ahead of schedule.

The Albion goalkeeper played an hour of the 1-0 defeat to Stevenage on Saturday. It was his first outing after two operations on his foot during the close season.

Stockdale was suffering from Morton’s Neuroma, a nerve problem between his toes which threatened his participation in last season’s promotion run-in.

He had an initial operation to remove tissue after the play-off defeat by Sheffield Wednesday.

Stockdale said: “I got it just after the game at MK Dons. I had injections every week from then on.

“It was going to be two to four weeks out and I wasn’t going to miss games for a stupid foot injury. I just had an injection before every game and then got on with it.

“We had a setback with the first operation and we had to do a little bit more with it.”

Stockdale signed in with a sharp save low to his left and would love to stay on for longer at Oxford tomorrow.

He said: “I was a bit rusty. I trained with the team on Thursday and Friday so I hadn’t done much.

“It was ahead of schedule. We had pencilled me in for Tuesday but I felt good.”