Is there an argument for him to be the right sided centre back in a three permanently, if we adopt that formation?
Forgetting his goal, which presumably won’t be a regular occurrence (!) some of his long passing was absolutely sublime. Not sure I’ve seen passes like that from an Oxford defender for a long time. With a little more confidence as well you have to assume that he’d be able to start dribbling the ball out from the back a bit more, given his midfield credentials.
Having a decent young player as the right sided CB in a three, Long as his backup, with Moore in the middle (Negru backup) and Brown on the left (with Thorniley backing him up) is a very solid defence with superb cover. It also allows Leigh and Stevens to presumably thrive as attacking fullbacks. Throw Bennett in as top quality backup and we only need a second RWB to suddenly have stacked looking defensive options, which is nice!