SAM Long is on course for the best season of his career – but the Oxford United right back is not resting on his laurels.

The defender from Bicester has completed 90 minutes in all but one Sky Bet League One match and has arguably been the U’s most reliable performer.

It has seen the 25-year-old already rack up 23 appearances in 2020/21, just nine shy of his previous best of 32, which came last season.

While 2020 has mostly been memorable for the wrong reasons, the last 12 months have seen Long reach the League One play-off final with United in July and hit 100 games for the club last month.

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Coming seven-and-a-half years since his debut and with injuries and loan moves in between, it is a real achievement.

But even after becoming one of the first names on boss Karl Robinson’s teamsheet, the academy graduate will not be complacent.

He said: “I had my tough times with injuries during the early part of my career and had to battle hard when I went out on loan.

“This season I’ve managed to establish myself as a starter and I don’t take that for granted.

“I work just as hard as I did in those times and that’s all you can do to get the best out of yourself.

“If everybody does that we’ll be in a good position.”

The only league game that Long has not featured from the kick-off this season was the 3-2 win over MK Dons in October, when he was a 54th-minute substitute for Rob Atkinson.

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It means only Elliott Moore – who has started and finished every match – has completed more minutes for United in the third tier this campaign.

Long is also closing in on his record run of league starts, his current tally of 11 just behind the 13 he made at the end of 2018/19.

Some of these were at centre back, where he filled in for the second half of Tuesday’s 4-0 victory over Northampton Town after John Mousinho was substituted.

Long helped the hosts keep a third league clean sheet in four, as the U’s continue to distance themselves from the defensive issues that dogged them earlier in the season.

But on a night when his side impressed at the other end of the pitch, the United stalwart still caught Robinson’s eye.

The U’s head coach said: “Where we sit right now, the player of the season’s got to be Sam Long.

“He plays right back, left back, centre back.

“He makes mistakes and might not be as comfortable with the ball at his feet as others, but he cares for Oxford United.

“He doesn’t half put a solid performance in every time he takes the pitch.”