Luke Freeman made his debut for Boro on Saturday in the draw at Leyton Orient

LUKE Freeman says he hopes to stay injury free so he can make the most of his loan deal at Stevenage after a groin injury disrupted a similar spell at Yeovil Town last season.

The striker-cum-winger made his Boro debut on Saturday at Leyton Orient, and speaking to The Comet afterwards said he had not expected to go straight into the first XI but was pleased to do so and aims to get as many games under his belt as possible before his deal - which could be extended - expires on January 8.

“I was happy with my debut,” Freeman told The Comet. “I’ve only been here for three days to be fair so I was just looking forward to getting a good solid performance out there and I felt that we did that. I thought that we could have won it.

“I’ve [been at] Yeovil before, come back to Arsenal, [and now] I’m looking to stay injury free and will just try to play as many games as I possibly can and keep putting in good performances for the team.”

Freeman, 19, was snapped up by Arsenal from Gillingham aged just 15 and spent part of last season on loan at Yeovil where he scored two goals in 15 matches in a spell disrupted by injury.

The 19-year-old returned to his parent club towards the end of the season before making an appearance against Stevenage in a pre-season friendly in the summer. That, coupled with a run-out for Arsenal’s reserves against Norwich City last week, helped seal a loan deal at Stevenage.

“I had a pre-season game against Stevenage at the start of the season and I thought I’d done quite well there. As far as I know the gaffer’s been keeping an eye on me throughout the season and I played a game against Norwich Tuesday just gone, and he just got in touch with my agent and said he’s interested in taking me on loan [before] the weekend.

“I had a good experience at Yeovil. I learnt a lot from it. I felt like that’s helped me and I’m obviously ready to take on [the challenge] with Stevenage.”