ELLIOTT Moore felt a knock on his knee in stoppage time during Oxford United’s draw at Luton Town, and the decision to replace him was more of a precaution than anything else.

The U’s skipper went down during injury time and an immediate decision was made to replace him with Sam Long two minutes into stoppage time.

Moore picked up a knee problem in training at the end of August, forcing him to miss the Sky Bet Championship games against Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City prior to the September international break.

With that in mind, United’s coaching staff made a rapid call to protect Moore in the closing stages at Kenilworth Road.

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U’s head coach Des Buckingham said: “He just felt his knee, and he obviously missed a couple of games earlier on.

“We had Sam Long and for the first time in a long time, we had a substitute up our sleeve to be able to use.

“It just made sense to get Sam on. You don’t want to take a risk in the last couple of minutes.

“We’ve seen how ruthless this league can be, so to have a fully fit Sam Long on the bench, it just made sense to replace him.”