Kyle Taylor: Exeter City midfielder 'still getting used' to playing football again

Kyle Taylor's goal against Crawley Town on Tuesday was just the second in his Exeter career

A lot can change when you are out injured, but Kyle Taylor has possibly seen more change than most during his 16 months out with a knee injury.

The Exeter City midfielder has seen a new management team, new style of play and a whole new training ground building be constructed during his time on the sidelines - not to mention eight team-mates join the club and go on to leave, without ever playing alongside him.

"It still feels a little bit strange," he tells BBC Radio Devon.

"I'm still getting used to playing games again in front of fans, which I'm loving."

Since suffering what then Exeter boss Matt Taylor called "the worst injury a footballer can get" - ruptured knee ligaments and damaged bone and cartilage at Oldham in March 2022 - Kyle Taylor's time has been spent in the gym, enviously looking out at his team-mates doing what he used to do.

Taylor returned to full training at the start of pre-season

But he finally returned to training in pre-season, and has started to repay the faith the club has shown in him through months of rehabilitation.

He returned to action as a substitute on the opening day of the League One season and came off the bench to score the equaliser in Exeter's 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Crawley on Tuesday.

"They say you don't lose it, but technically I was quite surprised - as you never know until you actually kick a ball where you're at," he says.

"It didn't take me too long to get back up and running, it's more just fitness and sharpness which, hopefully over the coming weeks as I build my minutes up, I'll keep improving.

"Over 16 months you see a gradual improvement, and even now we can keep improving every day, so it's good to be back."

For Exeter boss Gary Caldwell Taylor's return to fitness could not have come at a better time, with the club losing Archie Collins and Kevin McDonald from their midfield over the summer.

"He feels like a new signing because he's been out for so long," Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon.

"We have to be careful with him, we have to build him up slowly, we have to look after him physically.

"But he's raring to go - in both performances when he came on the pitch he really contributed to both wins.

"But we have to keep building him up slowly and make sure we keep looking after him, so when he is playing 90 minutes he's ready to do that consistently."