JAKE Forster-Caskey believes his loan spell at Oxford United has made him a better player.

The 18-year-old’s deal expires at the end of December and although Brighton boss Gus Poyet said last week he was planning to recall the midfielder, a final decision has not yet been made.

Forster-Caskey is in the dark at the moment, but whatever happens he is thankful for the opportunity to play at United.

He said: “I’m just putting my head down and training hard to try and get back into the first team.

“Then the two clubs can decide what they want to do from there.

“There’s going to be positives to take out of it because I’ve played about 20 games now, which is good for an 18-year-old. “If I do go back to Brighton I’ll have more experience and if I stay I’ll obviously try to rack up some more games. “My aim when I came here was to get games, do well for myself and Oxford United. “I feel like I’ve done that, I’m happy with what I’ve done and hopefully Oxford are too.”

There is one area of the midfielder’s game which has helped in particular from dropping two divisions.

“The physical side of it,” he said.

“League Two is more of a battle than the Championship and that’s going to benefit me.”

Forster-Caskey had an immediate impact on United, scoring their first goal of the league season with a fantastic curled effort at Bristol Rovers in August.

He has three goals for the club so far, including a penalty against tomorrow’s opponents Exeter City, in the 4-2 defeat at the Kassam Stadium in September.

U’s boss Chris Wilder was thrilled to sign Forster-Caskey in the summer and believes the teenager has the ability to have a great career.

He said: “Jake did superbly well and had a great start. “Because he’s a young player there’s ups and downs but his attitude has been superb and he is a player with bags of ability. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he kicked on, so we did well to get him.”