GARETH Ainsworth admitted the lengthy stoppage to treat Adebayo Akinfenwa benefitted Wycombe Wanderers at Oxford United.

The Chairboys striker had only just come on as a 73rd-minute substitute when he received a bang to the nose a matter of yards from the dugouts.

Akinfenwa stayed on the pitch and spent four minutes receiving treatment, much to the frustration of the U's support.

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United had been on top in the second half and Ainsworth thought the incident allowed Wycombe to regain a bit of control.

The Wanderers boss said: “If I’m being honest, I think the timing of that was good for us.

“Him getting treatment broke their momentum and allowed me to get some messages in and we shored it up a little bit.

“In the last ten minutes I thought we were the aggressors again, with the chances we had.”

Wycombe were happy to disrupt United's rhythm throughout, although Ainsworth admitted that became tougher after the break. 

He added: “They’re good players on the ball, we wanted to frustrate that game.

"They started rolling inside in the second half and caused us a few problems.