ELLIOT Lee headed home an equaliser seven minutes into stoppage time to snatch a draw for Oxford United at MK Dons.

The forward finished from close range to ensure the U’s shared the points after Andrew Surman’s early strike had appeared to secure victory for the hosts.

It had been a frustrating afternoon for United, who felt aggrieved that referee James Oldham only booked home goalkeeper Andrew Fisher for bringing down Dan Agyei as last man with five minutes to go.

Fellow substitute Anthony Forde hit the post moments later, but Lee’s last-ditch finish gave United a valuable draw.

The U’s have still gone four games without a win and dropped to ninth in Sky Bet League One, but will be in high spirits after fighting back late on.

Karl Robinson changed systems in an attempt to get back to winning ways, switching from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Cameron Brannagan was joined in holding midfield by Alex Gorrin, in for James Henry, while Lee moved across to the No 10 position.

He was flanked by Mide Shodipo and Brandon Barker, the latter coming in for Mark Sykes, with Matty Taylor leading the line in place of Sam Winnall.

United’s front four pressed high from the kick-off, with MK Dons happy to play out from the back like when the sides met at the Kassam Stadium in October.

This occasionally put the hosts in trouble, with Taylor and Shodipo unable to profit from mistakes in the first seven minutes, but the opening goal showed exactly why Dons favour the possession-based approach.

Some neat interplay took United’s front four out of the game and Surman had freedom to advance beyond the halfway line, before feeding Ethan Laird to his right.

The wing-back cut inside and returned the ball to his teammate, who stroked into Jack Stevens’ far corner from 20 yards.

Surman had another effort blocked six minutes later, moments after Cameron Brannagan had bailed out Rob Atkinson by sliding in to clear the centre back’s loose pass.

The U’s looked dangerous on the counter-attack and utilised their wingers often, but poor decision-making let them down too many times in the first half.

Lee sent a fierce volley straight at goalkeeper Andrew Fisher after 26 minutes, while Surman and Scott Fraser showed the hosts’ continued threat with quickfire efforts soon after.

United could not fashion many clear-cut chances for all their effort, with Barker denied by a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Harry Darling two minutes before half-time.

It was an encouraging end to the first period, but Dons started brighter after the restart and continued to move the ball around well.

The U’s fashioned the next two chances on the hour mark, though, as Taylor fired into the side-netting from the edge of the box before almost catching Fisher out.

The Dons stopper mis-controlled a backpass and United’s No 9 closed in, only for the ball to rebound off him and agonisingly over the bar.

Home boss Russell Martin responded with a triple change, bringing on Will Grigg, Cameron Jerome and Jordan Houghton for Charlie Brown, Daniel Harvie and Joe Mason.

Jerome was denied by a fantastic last-ditch challenge from Gorrin, before Robinson looked to his bench to make a difference with 19 minutes remaining.

Winnall and Henry replaced Taylor and Barker respectively, while Agyei came on for Shodipo to make his first appearance since the 1-0 win over Fleetwood Town on January 30.

The 23-year-old almost scored the equaliser within seconds of coming on after he was fed by Lee, but flashed a low effort wide of the far post from the left edge of the box.

A frustrating afternoon continued for United as Winnall hurt himself fouling Fraser and was substituted by Sykes within seven minutes of coming on.

And the United bench became even more livid as controversy hit with five minutes left.

Fisher came out to meet a through ball and brought Agyei down 20 yards out, but Oldham felt it was not a clear goalscoring opportunity and only booked the goalkeeper.

The Dons stopper rubbed salt into the wounds when he excellently saved Agyei’s pinpoint header down low, before Forde – on as a substitute for Gorrin – struck the post with a low effort in the penultimate minute of normal time.

It looked like that would be United’s final chance, but the Irishman’s last-ditch looping cross was headed back into the danger area by Agyei for Lee to nod home.

MK Dons (3-5-2): Fisher, O’Hara, Darling, Lewington, Laird, O’Riley, Surman (Houghton 62), Fraser (Gladwin 85), Harvie (Jules 46), Brown (Grigg 62), Mason (Jerome 62).

Unused subs: Nicholls, Sorinola,.

Booked: Mason, Fisher, Laird, Gladwin.

Oxford United (4-2-3-1): Stevens, Long, Moore, Atkinson, Ruffels, Brannagan, Gorrin (Forde 89), Shodipo (Henry 71), Lee, Barker (Agyei 71), Taylor (Winnall 71 (Sykes 78) ).

Unused subs: Eastwood, Grayson.

Booked: None.

Referee: James Oldham (Derbyshire).