THE decision to withdraw Ben Nelson from the heart of the Oxford United defence was a pre-planned one following his recovery from injury.
Nelson suffered a quad injury during the win at home to Hull City in November, and he was out of action until the reverse meeting against the Tigers on Wednesday night, when he replaced the injured Elliott Moore just after the hour mark.
Nelson was then handed a start at home against Watford yesterday, and he got 68 minutes under his belt until he was replaced by Peter Kioso.
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U’s head coach Gary Rowett said: “It was a bit of an awkward one when a player comes back in, a defender, and you’re a little bit limited timewise as to what you really should do.
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“Of course as the manager, you have that decision. I think about 55 minutes, he said he felt a little bit dead and a little bit lacking in energy, and so therefore it was quite an easy decision at that point.
“Obviously again with a lack of balance on the left, I felt it was better to put Browny [Ciaron Brown] back inside and move Hidde [ter Avest] out, which meant one player was out of position. Players have had to do that.
“One player I thought was absolutely sensational in terms of his work rate was Mark Harris. I thought he was absolutely brilliant. It’s not an easy role up there and he did it from the first minute until the 97th minute.”
