OXFORD United felt they had cause for complaint over the goal which knocked them out of the Capital One Cup at Sheffield Wednesday last night.

While the visitors did not quibble about the Sky Bet Championship side going through to the third round and ending the U's 13-game unbeaten run, there were question marks over Atdhe Nuhiu’s 54th-minute winner.

Chey Dunkley, one of six changes to the United line-up for the clash at Hillsborough, had a good view and felt there were two infringements.

He said: “It was a poor clearance and to be fair I thought it was a foul on Slocs (goalkeeper Sam Slocombe), then it hit the big lad up front’s hand and he headed it in.

“It was quite poor and we want to do better.

“I think we could’ve threatened their goal a bit more, but other than that we can come away with positives.”

He added: “At the end a lot of us were disappointed.

“We fancied our chances, just like we did against Brentford (a 4-0 win in the first round).

“We did try to take the game to them, but credit to them for going on to the next round.”

United were shaken just before half-time by the sight of Sam Long being stretchered off after injuring an ankle in a nasty fall.

The defender was rushed to hospital, but while he looks set for a lay-off there was good news before the team headed south, with X-rays showing there was no fracture.

U’s boss Michael Appleton said: “When players come off and have the oxygen on their face it does throw you a little bit.

“The boy looked in trouble straight away and I think he was in a lot of pain.”

Long was another of the head coach’s half a dozen changes.

It was a more radical overhaul to the XI than had been planned, but Appleton felt it was needed after several players reported for training on Monday struggling after five games in a fortnight.

He said: “We had a lot of the players fatigued on Monday.

“It was a decision we made with the sports science and footballing staff. We felt it was the right thing to do.

“I made six (changes) and all for the right reason.

“A couple were forced, but I thought the lads who played were well in the cup tie for 94 minutes and they were the side hanging on towards the end.”